Washington University students suspended after protests over war in Gaza

By St. Louis Post-Dispatch via My Courier-Tribune

Several Washington University students who participated in Saturday’s demonstration against the war in Gaza have been suspended and not allowed on campus as they enter final exams and graduation, according to activist groups representing the students.

The university’s vice chancellor for marketing and communications, Julie Flory, would not confirm the suspensions, saying the university cannot comment on student disciplinary matters.

Those arrested during the demonstration were released overnight with the help of community donations for bail and a rally outside the St. Louis County Jail in Clayton that lasted until 3 a.m. Sunday.

The group Resist WashU reported more than 100 arrests, including students, alumni, faculty, employees and community members.

Washington University officials confirmed Sunday that police arrested 100 people “who refused to leave after being asked multiple times,” according to a news release.

This number included 23 Washington University students and four university employees, the release stated.

Resist WashU representatives said three faculty members were arrested.

Activist groups shared a letter Sunday they said the university emailed to the arrested students informing them they were immediately suspended from campus and campus activities.

The letter stated, “Your continued presence on campus poses a substantial threat to the ability of faculty and other students to continue their normal University functions and activities.”

The suspension will remain effective “until the pending student conduct matter is resolved.”

The students may complete coursework and finals remotely if their professors permit them, according to the letter.

In addition, according to Resist WashU, suspended students in university housing were evicted and given until 8 p.m. Sunday to move out. And everyone who was arrested, including staff, are banned from campus.

The National Lawyers Guild, which supports local social justice movements through chapters nationwide including St. Louis, urged students to contact the organization to request free support with their student conduct proceedings.

The guild’s St. Louis chapter urged university professors and leaders to make all efforts to accommodate the students.

“These blanket suspensions, even if temporary, come at a particularly critical moment in the academic calendar year and are likely to cause students irreparable harm,” according to a public statement by the guild.

The guild also urged other university staff to pressure administrators to “end the persecution of nonviolent dissent on campus and let these students return to class.”

Among those arrested were Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and two of her staff members who say they were invited to participate in the protest. Stein said that they were in jail for more than five hours and released around 2 a.m.

“The Stein campaign supports the demands of the students and their peaceful protest and assembly on campus,” read a statement Sunday by Stein. “Student protest for peace and civil liberties has always represented the best part of our collective moral conscience.”

The university news release stated that the demonstrators entered the campus intent on creating “significant” disruption.

“It quickly became clear through the words and actions of this group that they did not have good intentions on our campus and that this demonstration had the potential to get out of control and become dangerous,” according to the release.

When the group began to pitch tents and set up camp “in violation of university policy,” university officials called in campus police to order everyone to leave.

The policy states that prohibited actions include “refusing to leave a building or space that has been declared closed or upon request of a proper authority,” officials pointed out. Event management guidelines also do not allow unapproved tents or overnight camping.

After multiple warnings, police began arresting demonstrators. Videos on social media show police pushing some individuals to the ground and holding bicycles to push against demonstrators.

“All will face charges of trespassing and some may also be charged with resisting arrest and assault,” university officials said.

Three police officers sustained injuries, including a severe concussion, a broken finger and a groin injury, according to the university.

Organizers of the demonstration, however, describe their march onto campus and encampment as peaceful.

The protesters were demanding an end to the war in Gaza and calling on the private university to cut all ties to Boeing Co., a major supplier of military equipment to Israel and leading employer in the St. Louis region.

“It is our duty to block the bombs being built in our own backyard. We will not leave until our demands or met,” stated an Instagram post by the group Resist WashU.

The group gathered Sunday afternoon in Forest Park with art supplies to make banners and signs.

The clash follows dozens of arrests nationwide in ongoing campus protests against the Israel-Hamas war, from the Ivy League to Emory in Atlanta and the University of Texas.

The seven-month war erupted Oct. 7 with a Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war since, with a majority of those being women and children, according to Gaza health officials.

University officials say they are open to dialogue with students.

“We are firmly committed to free expression and allow ample opportunity for voices to be heard on our campus,” they stated. “However, we expect everyone to respect our policies and we will take swift action to enforce them to their fullest extent.”

Saturday’s protest, which initially drew about 300 people, began at about 3 p.m. in nearby Forest Park before the group made its way onto the Danforth Campus.

By 4 p.m., the protesters had pitched about 10 tents outside of Olin Library.

After police told the protesters to disperse and warned of arrests, the protesters packed up their tents and then marched to Tisch Park, on the campus between Brookings Hall and Skinker Boulevard, where they set up the tents again.

Police followed the protesters to the new encampment site.

Many of the protesters chanted, “WashU you can’t hide, you support a genocide,” and, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” a slogan that some see as calling for the elimination of the state of Israel.

Israeli government officials reject accusations that they are committing genocide.

At 5:15 p.m., officers with the university’s police department gave the roughly 150 or so protesters who remained on campus a 10-minute warning, saying they would be arrested for trespassing and disruptive behavior unless they dispersed and left campus.

Protesters responded by sitting in a circle with arms locked, chanting, “We’re not leaving.”

By 7:30 p.m., the arrests began. Every few minutes, the police would approach the remaining group of about 150 protesters, arrest a dozen or so, and lead them back to the waiting police vans, whittling down the protesters over the course of an hour.

In addition to campus police, a couple dozen police officers from University City, Richmond Heights, Clayton, St. Louis and St. Louis County were also present.

St. Louis Aldermanic President Megan Green also participated in the protest, which she called “jovial” and “loving” before the arrests began.

Green, along with Stein and St. Louis Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier, sought to speak with university administrators to secure permission for the protest to continue peacefully. They were rebuffed by police on the scene.

The activists have listed five demands from the university:

• Cut ties with Boeing, including banning the aerospace giant from recruitment events.
• Cut ties with Israeli educational institutions.
• Drop charges and suspensions stemming from earlier campus protests.
• Stop acquiring real estate in St. Louis and make payments in lieu of taxes to University City and St. Louis. (All of Washington University’s property in Missouri is exempt from property taxes.)
• The latest arrests on campus come after another dozen people were also arrested April 13, leading to the suspension of three students, when pro-Palestinian demonstrators disrupted an event in Graham Chapel for newly admitted students.

A week later, pro-Palestinian students who set up tents were threatened with trespassing charges by campus police, according to videos posted on social media.

More than 130 professors, staff and students signed an open letter Friday condemning Washington University’s “arbitrary and heavy-handed response.”

An online petition with nearly 1,400 signatures calls for the student suspensions and charges to be dropped, saying, “The university’s disproportionate response to discipline student protestors, partaking in no violence whatsoever, is representative of the nationwide crackdown on pro-Palestine student activists.”