Goucher College students’ pro-Palestine encampment came down on May 15 due to threats of suspension for 10 students on campus, some of whom said they had not been participating in the encampment itself. The encampment had been up for 24 days.
The college’s president, Kent Devereaux, sent emails to 10 student organizers on May 14 putting them on probation and threatening their suspension if they did not take down the encampment and agree to comply with the private college campus’s demonstration policy.
The demonstration policy requires that protests occur during business hours only and that students and employees request approval from the administration before holding a demonstration on campus.
In a May 16 email sent to the students on probation, Devereaux said students will be removed from probation and face no other disciplinary actions if they write to agree that they will “adhere to all College policies, including the demonstration policy, and will not be involved in any way in any further disruptions of any kind to all end-of-semester activities including but not limited to any affinity ceremonies, Baccalaureate, and this year’s Commencement ceremony.”
The sanctioned students agreed to not organize or be involved with activities that disrupted the end-of-year ceremonies, but said that they and other students should be allowed to express their beliefs through wearing flags or decorating their graduation caps, per an email shared with Baltimore Beat.
The sanctioned students agreed to not organize or be involved with activities that disrupted the end-of-year ceremonies, but said that they and other students should be allowed to express their beliefs through wearing flags or decorating their graduation caps, per an email shared with Baltimore Beat.
In response, Devereaux said their probations would be lifted, ensuring students would receive their credits for the semester and be able to graduate.
While the encampment has come down, Students for a Free Palestine organizers were adamant in a statement sent to their campus community on May 15 that their organizing would not end there.
“While this may seem like the end, the peaceful removal of the encampment is the shift into our continued fight throughout the summer into Fall 2024,” the organizers wrote in their statement.
“Students for a Free Palestine stand in the belief that student power is what holds our institution accountable, and it has been proven through the creation of our community that we have the ability to create a culture on campus that reflects our need for trust, communication, and dedication to social justice.”
Students for a Free Palestine organizers said that the president’s sanctions and lack of good-faith negotiations had left them with broken trust.
They also noted that three of the sanctioned students were not camping in the encampment. One of them was an international student who was participating in the negotiations but was not involved with organizing the encampment, per the letter.
Goucher College did not respond to a request for comment.
Devereaux had threatened sanctions for students multiple times in the last few weeks even as he continued to negotiate with organizers over their demands.
Students for a Free Palestine had been calling on the administration to acknowledge the genocide against Palestinian people in a written statement; compile and make accessible an annual report on the university’s endowment investment portfolios and financial statements; remove Israel from a list of approved study abroad programs; and create a space for anti-Zionist Jewish students who don’t feel supported by the college’s Hillel organization, among other demands.
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