Dartmouth College administrators allege that protesters on Wednesday attempted to “steal and photograph files” from the reception area at a college building where they staged a pro-Palestinian sit-in for roughly five hours, and that a staff member and security officer were injured during the sit-in. Protesters also tried to enter president Sian Leah Beilock’s office in the same building, Parkhurst Hall.
The protesters entered the building shortly after 1 p.m. on Wednesday and left peacefully at 6 p.m. when the building closed for the day. No arrests were made.
A statement issued on Wednesday by the college’s interim co-deans, Anne Hudak and Eric Ramsey, alleges that the protesters were “confrontational” with Dartmouth Safety and Security officers and staff.
The college’s co-deans also said that an officer and one staff member were injured during confrontations with protesters.
Dartmouth Divest for Palestine, a group of students, faculty, staff and community members, did not respond to the Valley News’ request for comment by deadline on Thursday.
On Thursday afternoon, Dartmouth New Deal Coalition, a student-led pro-Palestinian group whose members were present at Wednesday’s protest, posted on their social media page that a Dartmouth security officer “grabbed, shoved and elbowed protesters" and that the officer "assaulted a Jewish student by throwing them onto the ground." The post also states that there was no "property damage" or "threats of harm" committed by protesters.
The college did not respond to the Valley News’ request for comment by deadline on Thursday.
The protesters, who carried signs stating “divest” and “defund genocide,” are believed to be Dartmouth students, as well as people “unaffiliated with the college,” according to the co-deans’ statement.
Demonstrators want the college’s Board of Trustees to consider a Dartmouth Divest for Palestine proposal. Last week, the college rejected the group’s proposal, which demanded Dartmouth cut ties with six aerospace and defense companies that manufacture supplies used by Israel in the conflict in Gaza.
The group also is demanding that Dartmouth halt the launch of the $34 million Davidson Institute for Global Security, a research initiative focused on international security and geopolitics. Beilock announced the launch of the project last week at a meeting with alumni in New York City.
A social media post made by the Dartmouth New Deal Coalition on Wednesday states that the center is funded by corporations whose technology is used “to assist in the massacring of Palestinian civilians...”
“Dartmouth’s academic programs are governed by faculty, not dictated by protesters,” Hudak and Ramsey, the college’s co-deans, wrote.
The student activists were found in violation of the college’s Standards of Conduct, which prohibit behavior that disrupts “the operations of the College,” threatens harm, or results injury or property damage, said Hudak and Ramsey. Disciplinary action is “already underway,” they added.
“Freedom of expression and dissent are strongly and broadly protected by Dartmouth policies. These kinds of behaviors are not,” Dartmouth spokesperson Jana Barnello said in a statement to the Valley News on Wednesday.
On May 1, roughly 65 students and Dartmouth staff members gathered outside Parkhurst Hall, one year after 89 people were arrested across the street on the Dartmouth Green during a nonviolent pro-Palestinian protest.
Students pitched two tents on the lawn outside the building’s front entrance, refusing to leave until the college addressed their demands regarding divestment and keeping U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, or ICE, off campus without judicial warrants.
After reaching a partial agreement, student activists took down the tents the next day. No arrests were made.
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