Just last week, campus was the site of energetic and sizable protests against the war in Gaza. Now, after graduation, things are quieter. Still, around 30 tents and clusters of student protesters remain in Dunn Meadow.
Bryce Greene, organizer with the IU Divestment Coalition, said a core group of supporters is sticking in town for the summer.
“We’re just making sure that we can continue keeping the food coming, keeping the supplies coming in, keeping morale up,” Greene said. “We're also trying to plan more longer-term events.”
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The protesters made three demands of the university: end its partnership with Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division, divest from Israel, and remove three administrators; President Pamela Whitten, Provost Rahul Shrivastav and Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs Carrie Docherty. They say until those demands are met, they plan to maintain the encampment.
The encampment violates IU’s Dunn Meadow policy forbidding temporary structures between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. A university committee changed the rules one day before the protests began, extending it into daytime.
As a result, university administrators asked the Indiana State Police to intervene; they arrested 57 people for trespassing. Many of them are banned from campus for a year.
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I asked Greene if he was worried about another sweep.
“That could be a problem, but like I said, I do think that we have a significant chunk of people in town, both community and students, who would be willing to put their bodies on the line if the university decides to send in a militarized response,” he said.
Greene added he hasn’t heard anything more from the university or IU Police Department about the encampment.
The IU administration did not respond to a request for comment.
