1 student, several others arrested at Swarthmore College as pro-Palestinian encampment is disbanded
According to the college, the four-day encampment was set up on Wednesday afternoon by members of the suspended organization, Swarthmore Students for Justice in Palestine, among other students. The protesters wanted the school to divest from companies that have contracts with the Israeli government. Swarthmore President Val Smith issued multiple announcements to the community, citing the encampment's rise and fall and how the college's administration responded.
Smith said the Swarthmore Students for Justice in Palestine organization set up the encampment on Trotter Lawn and repeatedly used social media to invite the public to join the protest. Swarthmore then responded by limiting vehicle access to the campus and advising the community to avoid the area.
Several of the protesters were fully masked and refused to identify themselves to college staff members, violating multiple college policies and posing a safety risk, Smith said. According to the college's policies, students are prohibited from failing to provide accurate identification when asked by school officials or using tents on campus lawns to form an encampment. The policy violations do not relate to the content that the protesters were speaking of.
Swarthmore officials asked the protesters to disband, or they could be placed on interim suspension. By Thursday, college officials discovered parts of the campus property had been vandalized. Swarthmore said the student organization also continued to invite the public to join the encampment over social media.
Swarthmore issued seven interim suspensions on Thursday to the student protesters they identified. Officials also issued trespass notices to everyone at the encampment and asked them to leave the area. If not, this would lead to criminal trespassing charges.
Swarthmore then told the protesters the encampment had to end by 1 a.m. Saturday, and failure to do so would result in possible expulsion or arrests for trespassing.
The college said the student organization then shared on social media that the encampment was there to stay.
"With rising concerns about safety and security on campus, a continued and growing presence of individuals unaffiliated with the College, warnings from outside law enforcement agencies, and no signs that protestors were willing to engage in conversation that would bring the encampment to an end, I felt we had no choice but to seek outside assistance from local law enforcement," an announcement from Smith read in part.
Twenty-five police officers intervened Saturday morning, telling protesters to leave the encampment or be arrested. Swarthmore said many of the protesters dispersed, but others stayed. In total, authorities arrested nine people, including a current and former student. Those who were arrested now face misdemeanor trespassing charges. Smith said the two people affiliated with Swarthmore will be put on interim suspension and not allowed on campus until the student conduct process is over.
"As painful as this moment is, I hope it can also serve as an inflection point — a chance to return to the principles that have long defined our community," Smith wrote in part following the arrests. "We can choose to engage across our differences with openness and curiosity, to challenge one another's assumptions with both conviction and respect, and to lead with care and compassion, even in the most trying times. In doing so, we can build upon what binds us together, and foster a more resilient and inclusive future."
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