A Dartmouth College tent encampment following in the footsteps of other campus protests was uprooted Wednesday night, hours after the first tent poles hit Dartmouth Green.
Police arrested 90 people. According to WCAX-TV, those arrested were students and “members of the general community.”
Dartmouth College President Sian Leah Beilock said in a statement that faculty members as well as people “unaffiliated with Dartmouth” took part in the protest, according to WMUR-TV.
Those arrested were facing charges of criminal trespass and resisting arrest.
In her statement, Beilock said protesters declined “several opportunities to stage their protest in a manner consistent with Dartmouth’s policies.”
“Protestors pitched a ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’ and physically prevented its removal despite multiple opportunities to avoid arrest,” Beilock wrote, noting that the college has had 15 other protests on campus this year that were peaceful and adding, “actions have consequences.”
State police mobilized to support local law enforcement at UNH + @Dartmouth to quickly address the encampments, which violate school policies. Thanks to all those who worked with UNH & Dartmouth to provide on-the-ground support. Peaceful protests are fine, breaking the law is not
— Chris Sununu (@GovChrisSununu) May 2, 2024
Beilock said Dartmouth enforced its rules to avert what has taken place elsewhere.
Do you stand with Israel?
“Our long-standing policies limit the time, place, and manner where protests can occur. They prohibit encampments or the occupation of buildings that interfere with the academic mission or increase safety risks to members of our community,” she wrote.
“When policies like these have been ignored on other campuses, hate and violence have thrived — events, like commencement, are canceled, instruction is forced to go remote, and, worst of all, abhorrent anti-Semitism and Islamophobia reign,” she wrote.
She said expressing opinions can “never be used to justify taking over Dartmouth’s shared spaces and effectively rendering them places only for people who hold one specific ideology. This is exclusionary at best and, at its worst, as we have seen on other campuses in recent days, can turn quickly into hateful intimidation where Jewish students feel unsafe.”
She also noted that if protesters wish to advance their demand that Dartmouth divest from Israel, a process for that already exists, adding “Dartmouth’s endowment is not a political tool.”
Happening now: Dartmouth faculty rally on the Green to protest the arrest of 90+ students, faculty and community members on the orders of @sianbeilock last night pic.twitter.com/bdIqxUl8Su
— Student Worker Collective at Dartmouth (@swcdartmouth) May 2, 2024
The student newspaper The Dartmouth said that after about three hours of herding protesters off the green and arresting those who did not leave, police were telling students “It’s past your bedtime” and “It’s time to go home.”
The ACLU of New Hampshire criticized the use of police, according to New Hampshire Public Radio.
“Use of police force against protestors should never be a first resort,” the organization said. “Freedom of speech and the right to demonstrate are foundational principles of democracy and core constitutional rights. We urge university and government leaders to create environments that safeguard constitutionally protected speech.”
As a protest encampment is expected to begin this evening at @dartmouth, @GovChrisSununu says campus actions in New Hampshire and around the country are being driven by hate: “100%. This is pure anti-semitism…” #NHPolitics #WMUR pic.twitter.com/7Mb20YSYr5
— Adam Sexton (@AdamSextonWMUR) May 1, 2024
Josh Paul, a former bureau director for Political-Military Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, rebuked Dartmouth, saying he canceled his appearance there Thursday because the college upheld its rules, according to WPTZ-TV.
“There’s no way I can go ahead with a panel on peaceful debate at a time when the Dartmouth College administration is literally pulling students off the green and throwing them into police wagons,” Paul said.
“The reaction by the administration and by riot police in full riot gear is an absolute aberration. It is a horrible thing to see,” Paul said.
