Protests in the name of Palestinians prompted some colleges to change their policies this year, while others continued to welcome all kinds of demonstrations.
Nationwide, protesters took the media by storm as they set up encampments, refused to leave colleges and universities, and were subsequently arrested. Reports included the total number of protesters arrested. However, here is a roundup of how many arrested protesters were actually affiliated with these schools.
Arrests that prompted policy change
Yale University called in its police on two occasions to clear out protesters. On April 22, police arrested 48 people, only four of whom were unaffiliated with the university. On May 1, another four were arrested, two of whom were unaffiliated, bringing the total number of students to 46 this year.
As a result, Yale opened an inquiry into its own police that resulted in recommendations that Chief of Police Anthony Campbell and his leadership team complete additional training and get better equipment for communication for crowded scenarios, such as the protests. Still, it stood by its policy that even when it comes to protests, “Yale’s outdoor spaces are for use by Yale students, faculty, and staff members” and are not meant to be used “overnight,” which the university defines as 11 p.m. to 8 a.m.
Washington University in St. Louis saw police arrest 100 protesters on campus, including 23 students and four employees. Among them was Green Party 2024 presidential candidate Jill Stein, her campaign manager Jason Call, and her deputy campaign manager Kelly Merrill-Cayer.
Subsequently, Washington University officials rolled out a policy on demonstrations and disruptions, along with consequences for violations. At the bottom of the policy, the university wrote, “Nothing about this policy should be understood to create rights for anyone who is not a current university student, faculty or staff member. The university is a private institution and may limit access to university property and facilities as it deems necessary.”
At Arizona State University, police arrested 88 people on April 27, 20 of whom were students. An ASU spokesperson told the Washington Examiner, “Any person who chooses to exercise free speech rights on our campuses must follow policies and the law.”
ASU Police Chief Michael Thompson was placed on paid administrative leave once the university received complaints about his actions the day before and of the arrests. One of the accusations police faced came from a woman who said officers removed her hijab while transporting her to the county jail. Thompson retired months later after serving as chief for 10 years.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst saw 134 people arrested on May 7. Seventy turned out to be students, four were faculty, and two were staff.
As a result, UM Amherst issued a Campus Demonstration Policy Taskforce Report, which clarified that those unaffiliated with its university do not have the “protections afforded by” its rules on picketing and demonstrations.
Northeastern University had 98 protesters arrested on April 27. Among them, there were 29 students and six staff members. The university made its policy on demonstrations clear that “third parties are not permitted to engage or participate in demonstrations on university property,” meaning those who have no affiliation to the university.
Indiana University called state police to help clear protesters off Dunn Meadow Park, which resulted in 56 arrests. Seventeen students and faculty were arrested, which prompted the university to update its First Amendment policy to make it clear that camping, temporary structures, signs staked to the ground, and outdoor speakers that are too loud are not permitted on campus.
Protests at the City College of New York resulted in 170 arrests in and around its campus in the heart of New York City. A minority of 70 were affiliated with the college, according to a university spokesperson.
“Over the past year, the University has taken numerous steps to create a more inclusive and respectful environment, including deployment of additional private officers to campuses and increased coordination with local law enforcement,” the spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. “Our community also has strict rules in place to prohibit anyone from impeding access to educational facilities or occupying them without authorization, including encampments. These rules are in place to ensure the safe operation of our University.”
Arrests at universities that reported no policy change
New York University had 133 protesters arrested on its Gould Plaza on April 22. Only 65 were students, faculty, or staff of the university. It also has a policy against overnight encampments that is still in effect. NYU President Linda G. Mills lamented that any protesters unaffiliated with her university entered.
“Social media was used to summon hundreds of people to our campus, including people who did not have permission to be at NYU and who we believed significantly threatened our community,” Mills said in a statement.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison reported two clashes with law enforcement on its campus, with 34 people arrested on May 1 at Library Mall. The arrestees included 18 students and seven staff members. However, only a single protester was affiliated with UW-Madison and was charged with battery to a police officer. Four officers reported injuries in their interactions with protesters that day. Then, on Dec. 5, 19 more protesters faced arrest as they attempted to disrupt the Board of Regents meeting. In that case, 12 were affiliated with UW-Madison, and two were alumni.
“UW-Madison is an open, public campus where all are welcome,” Marc Lovicott of the UW-Madison Police Department told the Washington Examiner.
At the University of Texas at Austin, police arrested 79 people. Fewer than half, 34, were either students, faculty, or staff.
“These numbers validate our concern that much of the disruption on campus over the past week has been orchestrated by people from outside the University, including groups with ties to escalating protests at other universities around the country,” the university said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “This is calculated, intentional, and, we believe, orchestrated, and led by those outside our university community.”
At the University of Utah, 19 protesters were arrested. Only four were students, and one was an employee.
The University of California San Diego tried to disperse protesters, but 64 arrests were made for those who refused law enforcement orders. Among them were 40 students, who all faced an interim suspension.
The University of Southern California had two incidents that required intervention by law enforcement. On April 24, 93 people were arrested, 48 of whom were students. Later, officers cleared the encampment without arresting any protesters.
Pomona College saw 20 student protesters descend on its campus on April 5, which resulted in everyone being arrested. Seven were students at Pomona, but eight were Scripps College students, and five were Pitzer College students.
Virginia Tech called the police to arrest 82 protesters on its campus, including 53 students.
Northwestern University was among the few campuses that were able to clear protesters’ encampments without incident in April. However, in the days that followed, three faculty members and a single graduate student were arrested on charges of obstruction, which were dropped.
Where the unaffiliated protesters came from
The House Financial Services Committee is seeking answers from the Treasury Department on funding for anti-Israel campus protests. In a letter to Andrea Gacki, the director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, Reps. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) and Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) asked the agency to try to “detect terrorist acts and financing through the USA Patriot Act.”
Jeff Reynolds, a senior investigative researcher at Restoration News, told the Washington Examiner that the movement across campuses appeared to be “astroturf,” a phrase meaning they were artificially manufactured.
“I found many organizers of the campus protests that had gone to places like Cuba, Lebanon, and China to train in anti-American rhetoric and resistance tactics. Some are nonviolent, but many include violence and societal disruption,” Reynolds said. “America’s adversaries have taken their fight to our streets. They’re here to create fractures in American society. They’re taking their cues from actual terrorist organizations in Gaza and other parts of the Middle East.”
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Transparency nonprofit organization OpenTheBooks reported that Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait donated a combined $10.3 billion toward higher education in the United States between 1986 and 2020. Northwestern University, in particular, received a billion dollars from foreign funders, including Qatar and Saudi Arabia, according to OpenTheBooks.
Harvard and Brown, among others, claim to have received contributions from donors in the “State of Palestine” despite the fact that it remains unrecognized by the U.S. government. Some credited these protests at these schools for changing President Joe Biden’s tune on the war in Gaza, prompting him to call for a ceasefire.
