Owing to Israel's war in Gaza, tensions have continued to ratchet up in standoffs with protesters on campuses across the US and increasingly in Europe — nearly three weeks into a movement launched by a protest at Columbia University, reports AP.
Since April 18, authorities arrested over 2,600 people on 50 college campuses where protests took place, according to AP reporting and official statements from universities and law enforcement agencies.
However, not all schools are taking that approach, with a few letting protesters hold rallies and organise their encampments as they see fit, states the report.
The president of Wesleyan University, a liberal arts school located in Connecticut, has praised the on-campus protest, which includes a pro-Palestinian tent encampment, as an act of political expression. The number of tents at the camp has grown from around 20 a week ago to more than 100.
“The protesters' cause is important — bringing attention to the killing of innocent people,” university President Michael Roth wrote to the campus community on Thursday, May 2. He added, “And we continue to make space for them to do so, as long as that space is not disruptive to campus operations.”
The Rhode Island School of Design, where students started occupying a building Monday, affirms students' rights to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly and supports all members of the community, a spokesperson said, reports AP.
The school said President Crystal Williams spent more than five hours with the protesters that evening discussing their demands and on Tuesday, the school decided to relocate classes that were scheduled to take place in the building.
The building was covered with posters reading “Free Palestine” and “Let Gaza Live,” and doves were drawn in coloured chalk on the sidewalk, reports AP.
From appeasement to threats of disciplinary action, campuses have tried various tactics on the protesters to resolve and clear the way for commencements.
At the University of Chicago, hundreds of demonstrators gathered for at least eight days until administrators warned them on Friday to leave or face removal, reports AP. On Tuesday, law enforcement dismantled the encampment.
