Princeton profs want charges against student protesters dropped

🔴 A pro-Palestinian encampment at Princeton University was broken up Thursday

🔴 150+ faculty members want trespassing charges dropped against two participants

🔴 Participants returned for a sit-in that continued through the weekend

PRINCETON — The pro-Palestinian encampment at Princeton University has turned into a sit-in without tents.

A warning was sent to the entire school from W. Rochelle Calhoun, Princeton's vice president for campus life, stating that the encampment was a safety concern and a violation of campus policy that could potentially endanger the campus participants.

They also risked arrests, loss of their academic credits earned this semester and possible suspension or expulsion.

Approximately 100 participants showed up Thursday before they were dispersed by the university's Department of Public Safety. The university followed through on its threat and charged two graduate students with trespassing. They were barred from campus pending a disciplinary process but not evicted, according to university spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill.

"Contrary to public reports, the students barred from the main campus are permitted to remain in their university-owned housing, as the designated administrator determined that their bar does not extend to their non-dormitory residences," Morrill said in a statement.

Over 150 faculty members have signed a letter calling for charges be dropped.

They called the warning from Calhoun "an outrageous overreach on the part of the University administration in order to quell dissent and quiet the campus in advance of end-of-year activities."

"This repressive action, undertaken at the behest of the University administration, constitutes a grave threat to freedom of speech, dissent, and assembly on the Princeton campus," the letter read.

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Tents down, sit-on begins

The rest of the group took their tents down voluntarily. Protesters returned without their tents for a sit-in at the same location and have remained ever since at the McCosh Courtyard.

According to the The Daily Princetonian, approximately 150 people gathered Sunday night.  The number dwindled to about a dozen in the early morning hours of Monday.

Some of the protesters made their presence known Sunday during Lawnparties, a semesterly event with food and music, according to the Princetonian.

A banner was displayed and a protester went on the microphone and told the crowd "While you are partying, Israel is bombing.” The sit-in protesters called to the crowd to "join us," according to the Princetonian.

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Encampment vs. sit-in

When asked about the difference between an encampment and a sit-in, Morrill referred to an earlier statement Calhoun.

"The University’s Statement on Free Expression states: 'Because the University is committed to free and open inquiry in all matters, it guarantees all members of the University community the broadest possible latitude to speak, write, listen, challenge, and learn,'" Calhoun said.

"That guarantee extends to protests and demonstrations, provided they do not involve genuine threats, harassment, or conduct that impedes the right of others to be heard, violates the law, or disrupts essential operations."

According to Calhoun, the university considers some types of protest actions such as occupying or blocking access to buildings, establishing outdoor encampments and sleeping in any campus outdoor space as "inherently unsafe for both those involved and for bystanders, and they increase the potential for escalation and confrontation."

Sit-in photo courtesy Lea Kahn/Newspaper Media Group

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