PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Pro-Palestinian activists at Swarthmore College set up an encampment on campus once again. They vowed not to leave until their demands were met.
The college said they were violating the student code of conduct and began issuing interim suspensions to students who were warned but continued to participate in the encampment. The school said they will continue to issue more as more students are identified.
Swarthmore's president said the school issued a notice to the encampment on Thursday that the students are considered to be trespassing. He also said if they fail to disperse, "we will have no choice but to escalate our response".
Students on interim suspension are prohibited from accessing campus and attending college-related events.
The students pitched tents and put signs up on Trotter Lawn in the heart of Swarthmore’s campus on Wednesday afternoon. This effort was organized by Swarthmore Students for Justice in Palestine, a student group that the college suspended in February because of the actions protesters took during an 11-hour long sit-in at Parrish Hall.
Some of the demands from the activists are similar to the ones made a year ago when there was a wave of pro-Palestinian encampments at Swarthmore, the University of Pennsylvania, and institutions around the country. The protesters continued to demand that Swarthmore divest from companies that are profiting from the war in Gaza. But this time, the Swarthmore protesters mentioned a specific business. They want to college to cut ties with tech company Cisco because of its work with the Israeli government.
They are also pushing Swarthmore to refuse to cooperate with ICE and to condemn President Trump for his attacks on immigrants and the punishment of international students who have had their visas revoked because of their participation in the pro-Palestinian protests.
Swarthmore President Val Smith, in a message to the school community, said the protesters were violating the student code of conduct by using tents on campus lawns to create an encampment and for failing to show student identification when asked by college officials.
“Please note, neither of these code prohibitions pertains to the content of the speech being promoted at the protest. I have affirmed time and again the College’s belief in and support of individuals’ rights to peaceful protest and dissent,” Smith stated.
College officials also expressed concern that protest organizers were using social media to invite non-Swarthmore community members to campus.
“These actions put many of the most vulnerable members of our community at serious risk. In an abundance of caution and for the safety of the community, we restricted vehicle access to campus and urged people to avoid the area,” Smith said.
The protesters were warned verbally and in writing to disperse. The initial 4 p.m. deadline set by the school came and went, and the protesters remained.
Smith said the college was in the process of issuing interim suspensions to students who were warned and did not leave. As of 8 a.m. Friday, it was not immediately clear if any of the students were suspended.