A tense encounter between pro-Palestine protesters and the IU Police Department ended Tuesday afternoon without incident.
Protesters gathered outside a conference room in the Indiana Memorial Union where university president Pamela Whitten was hosting a listening session with faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences. Two members of the IU Board of Trustees, Vivian Winston and Donna Spears, were also present at the meeting.
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The group of around 20 students waited for the session to adjourn in order to avoid disrupting an active meeting and violating campus policy. When the doors opened, they began chanting slogans. By the time IU officials arrived, the meeting's attendees had left.
Vicka Bell-Robinson, an Associate Vice Provost in the office of student life, told protesters they were violating the university’s speech policy by being disruptive and that the university reserved the right to regulate the time, place and manner of free speech activities. She warned them that police were on their way.
"Place is the issue," Bell-Robinson said. "The fact that you're inside a university building — we're talking about residence halls, IU school events..."
"It's insane for the school to have limitations for free speech in a public university," one masked protester responded.
"I appreciate your perspective," Bell-Robinson said. "What I'm trying to communicate to you is the policy as it is."
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Protesters prepared for the possibility of arrest, discussing tactics to avoid confrontation and writing phone numbers on their forearms.
Three uniformed officers arrived with university superintendent of public safety Ben Hunter. Protesters asked Hunter to clarify the university’s speech policy and consequences for violating. Hunter said if they continued to chant inside the union, they could face arrest.
"If you want to stay here, stay here all day," Hunter said. "You can order Grubhub if you want. But you can’t sit here and scream and yell and chant."
Hunter told protesters that they wouldn't be arrested if they chanted while leaving the building.
Protesters conferred among themselves and left the union, followed by two officers. Hunter declined a request for comment.
The demonstrations at IU have been ongoing for three weeks, with protesters demanding the university end its relationship with Crane naval base, divest from Israel, and remove president Whitten, Provost Rahul Shrivastav and Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs Carrie Docherty.
