A year later, most of the charges brought against people who joined large Palestinian solidarity protests at Dartmouth College and the University of New Hampshire have been dropped.
The demonstrations were part of a wave of activism around the country in response to the war in Gaza. And the protests on May 1, 2024, specifically, drew an intense police response — then-Gov. Chris Sununu sent state troopers to both campuses.
New reporting from the Concord Monitor casts doubt on police accounts about what happened at UNH that night, where roughly a dozen people were arrested. (Most of those charges were dropped within months.)
At Dartmouth College, 89 people were arrested. Prosecutors recently dropped the final two pending cases against Hanover residents Julianne Borger and Christian Harris, on the condition that they stay off campus and agree to maintain good behavior.
Both Borger and Harris grew up in the Upper Valley. Borger, a long-time resident of Lebanon, said they initially showed up last May 1 for a May Day rally but stuck around to support student demonstrations, when they realized a protest for Palestine was happening.
Borger described the day as peaceful, with speeches and songs. Police were called in, Borger said, after students decided to erect tents on the campus lawn.
As the night drew on, Borger said they were concerned to see the Dartmouth Green — an area they have long known as a community gathering space — filling up with officers bearing shields, batons and long guns.
“We weren't hurting anyone. We weren't doing anything hateful,” Borger said. “I think that that's sort of like a big takeaway for me, is that this should be the town square.”
Harris, Borger’s partner, grew up in Hanover and has deep ties to Dartmouth; his father worked there, so he always felt safe on campus. He felt relief that the charges were dropped, but the intensity of events last May is still shocking to him.
“There's still just a ton of frustration around that night, how it was handled,” Harris said. “That frustration has now led to anger, given the kind of current state of affairs with this current administration. That night was scary, but I think it was also more indicative of things to come and I think that's really been kind of the tragedy of it all.”
As American citizens, Borger and Harris both say they currently feel secure in their ability to protest without serious consequences. But since last May, they have been concerned about the future of protesting in America, especially for students and the international community on college campuses.
They both plan to continue to support Dartmouth students who are speaking out on campus. Outside of their own grievances and legal battles, Harris said he feels that the college created a kind of manufactured consent to discourage more protests.
“I think [Dartmouth] paved the way for what we're currently seeing with this current administration, rounding up people and forgoing due process, forgoing the laws that are there to protect the rights that we do have,” Harris said. “I think the actions of Dartmouth really laid the groundwork for people to allow this to occur and you know we're seeing push back now. It's just unfortunate that it might be too little too late for a lot of folks.”
