Police across the country have been working to clear protesters from college campuses and dismantle encampments that have been set up since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict. In Philadelphia and Boston, officers in riot gear removed demonstrators who had defied previous orders to disperse. However, at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, an agreement was reached to end an illegal encampment. In Tucson, clashes between police and pro-Palestinian demonstrators resulted in arrests and a pitched battle.
At MIT, police began removing encampments and warned students they would face discipline if they did not leave voluntarily. Harvard University also began sending out suspension notices to protesters who continued to violate university policies by maintaining the encampment. In Philadelphia, police dismantled an encampment set up on campus and detained over thirty individuals. Despite efforts to clear out established encampments, new ones continued to appear on other college campuses, such as at the University of Denver.
Protesters at various college campuses demand that their schools divest from Israel due to the ongoing conflict with Palestine. Students at the University of Denver set up tents outside the administration building in protest. Administrators at DU permitted the new encampment on the green but stated that non-students, faculty, or staff would not be allowed to stay overnight and would be removed without notice. Students at the nearby Auraria Campus have been camped out since April 25, with some facing charges of trespassing.
Amid ongoing protests, Columbia University held a scaled-down commencement ceremony on a soccer field rather than on the main campus due to safety concerns. The university had cancelled the traditional university-wide commencement ceremony scheduled for May 15 and opted for smaller celebrations. Some 800 students from Columbia’s School of Professional Studies received their graduate degrees in the first mini-ceremony. Additional commencement ceremonies were scheduled in the coming days to accommodate all the schools and their graduates.
In various cities, law enforcement worked to remove protesters from college campuses where they had set up encampments in protest of the Israel-Hamas conflict. Incidents of clashes between police and demonstrators led to arrests and charges of criminal trespass and assault. Campuses such as MIT and Harvard faced the challenge of handling ongoing protests while also ensuring the safety and security of students, especially during final exams and commencement ceremonies. The presence of pro-Palestinian encampments on college campuses across the country raised concerns regarding potential disruptions to campus life and educational activities.
