CHICAGO (AP) — Police cleared a pro-Palestinian tent encampment at the University of Chicago on Tuesday after administrators who had initially adopted a permissive approach said the protest had crossed a line and caused growing concerns about safety.
University President Paul Alivisatos acknowledged the school’s role as a protector of freedom of speech after officers in riot gear blocked access to the school's Quad but also took an enough-is-enough stance.
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CHICAGO (AP) — Police cleared a pro-Palestinian tent encampment at the University of Chicago on Tuesday after administrators who had initially adopted a permissive approach said the protest had crossed a line and caused growing concerns about safety.
BJ Brumley, left, and fellow University of Southern Mississippi student Vinny Halsey, hold Pro-Palestinian signs protesting the Israel Hamas war in Gaza, during an hour-long silent protest on the school's campus, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Hattiesburg, Miss. The group of almost 50 demonstrators drew no counter protesters or hecklers. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Young Muslim girls take part in a prayer service near the University California, Irvine pro-Palestinian encampment on Monday, May 6, 2024, in Irvine, Calif. (Mindy Schauer/The Orange County Register via AP)
Ramon Nacanaynay of Long Beach, Miss., holds a sign calling for a ceasefire of the Israel Hamas war in Gaza, during an hour-long silent protest on the University of Southern Mississippi campus, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Hattiesburg, Miss. The group of almost 50 demonstrators drew no counter protesters or hecklers. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
An Israeli flag, top, flies Tuesday, May 7, 2024, near an encampment of tents, behind left, on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus, in Cambridge, Mass., set up by MIT students and supporters to protest what they said was the school's failure to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and to cut ties to Israel's military. The Israeli flags were put in place following the establishment of the tent encampment that was built to demand that MIT condemn Israel's war effort in Gaza. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
An activist uses keffiyeh scarves tied together to hoist a banner through an upper floor window of a Rhode Island School of Design building they have partially taken over Tuesday, May 7, 2024, at RISD, in Providence, R.I. The students and supporters are demanding that RISD condemn Israel's war effort in Gaza, and that the school divest from investments that benefit Israel. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
A passer-by, right, uses a mobile device to record a barrier with placards at an pro-Palestinian encampment of tents on the campus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. Students at MIT set up the encampment to protest what they said was MIT's failure to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and to cut ties to Israel's military. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Rhode Island School of Design students and supporters gather near a Palestinian flag, left, outside a building at RISD, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Providence, R.I. Student activists and supporters, who have taken over a portion of the building, are demanding that the school condemn Israel's war effort in Gaza, and that the school divest from investments that benefit Israel. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
An activist wearing a keffiyeh pauses at an entrance to a building at Rhode Island School of Design, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Providence, R.I. Student activists and supporters, who have taken over a portion of the building, are demanding that the school condemn Israel's war effort in Gaza, and that the school divest from investments that benefit Israel. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Placards lay on the ground outside an entrance to a building at Rhode Island School of Design that has been partially taken over by students and supporters, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Providence, R.I. The activists are demanding that RISD condemn Israel's war effort in Gaza, and that the school divest from investments that benefit Israel. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Activists attach a rolled placard to keffiyeh scarves tied together to form a line as they prepare to hoist the banner through an upper floor window to protesters occupying a portion of the building at Rhode Island School of Design, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Providence, R.I. The activists are demanding that RISD condemn Israel's war effort in Gaza, and that the school divest from investments that benefit Israel. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
A passer-by walks past an entrance to a building at Rhode Island School of Design, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Providence, R.I. Student activists and supporters, who have taken over a portion of the building, are demanding that the school condemn Israel's war effort in Gaza, and that the school divest from investments that benefit Israel. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Activists hang a placard from a window of an upper floor of a building at Rhode Island School of Design, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Providence, R.I. RISD students and supporters, who have taken over a portion of the building, are demanding that the school condemn Israel's war effort in Gaza, and that the school divest from investments that benefit Israel. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Bernardine Dohrn, left, and Bill Ayers, center, founders of the Weather Underground, participate in a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Chicago Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
UCLA faculty members support students protesting the Gaza war and the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza on Monday, May 6, 2024. A number of student protestors were arrested early Monday in a UCLA parking lot for violating a curfew on campus. (David Crane/The Orange County Register via AP)
Pro-Palestinian protesters chant at University of Chicago police while being kept from the university's quad as the student encampment is dismantled Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Pro-Palestinian protesters push back as University of Chicago police officers reposition a barricade keeping protesters from the university's quad while the student encampment is dismantled Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Pro-Palestinian protesters support the positions held by others as University of Chicago police officers reposition a barricade keeping protesters from the university's quad while the student encampment is dismantled Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Pro-Palestinian protesters chat as police kept them away from the university's quad while the student encampment is dismantled at the University of Chicago, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Pro-Palestinian protesters return to the University of Chicago's quad outside Levi Hall as as a patchwork of dying grass mark the locations of tents in an encampment that was dismantled in the pre-dawn hours by university police Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Pro-Palestinian protesters lock arms and clasp their hands as a University of Chicago police officer holds onto a barricade while officers kept protesters from the university's quad while the student encampment is dismantled Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
A pro-Palestinian protester rests her head on her clasped hands while she stands before University of Chicago police officers while officers kept protesters from the university's quad while the student encampment is dismantled Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Police block pro-Palestinian protesters from returning to their encampment as the encampment is dismantled at the University of Chicago, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Pro-Palestinian protestors link arms and take back a student encampment on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, after a 2:30pm deadline passed to leave the encampment, Monday May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Steve LeBlanc)
Protesters at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology gather around a tent encampment Monday evening, May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass., after police and school officials failed to clear out the protest earlier in the day. (Steve LeBlanc)
A police officer watches demonstrators after hundreds crossed breached barricades around a pro-Palestinian encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. Protesters crossed the barricades to join other pro-Palestinian demonstrators who'd been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
Police block pro-Palestinian protesters from returning to their encampment as the encampment is dismantled at the University of Chicago, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Police block pro-Palestinian protesters from returning to their encampment as the encampment is dismantled at the University of Chicago, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
A police officer stands guard blocking pro-Palestinian protesters from returning to their encampment as the encampment is dismantled at the University of Chicago, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
A police officer walks between police and pro-Palestinian protesters as the police block pro-Palestinian protesters from returning to their encampment as the encampment is dismantled at the University of Chicago, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
A police officer stands guard blocking pro-Palestinian protesters from returning to their encampment as the encampment is dismantled at the University of Chicago, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
A pro-Palestinian protester leads chants at the university's police as they are kept from the university's quad while the student encampment is dismantled at the University of Chicago, on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Demonstrators lock arms after crossing breeched barricades around a pro-Palestinian encampment at MIT, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. Protesters crossed the barricades to join other pro-Palestinian demonstrators who'd been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
A man cheers after fellow demonstrators breeched barricades that had been erected around a pro-Palestinian encampment at MIT, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. Protesters crossed the barricades to join other pro-Palestinian demonstrators who'd been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
A demonstrator carries supplies over breached barriers to join a pro-Palestinian encampment, Monday, May 6, 2024, in at MIT in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
Demonstrators storm breached barriers to join a pro-Palestinian encampment, Monday, May 6, 2024, in at MIT in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
A demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag, Monday, May 6, 2024, in at MIT in Cambridge, Mass. after several hundred demonstrators tore down barricades and joined pro-Palestinian demonstrators that been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
A sign is seen on the fence in a pro-Palestinian encampment at Main Quadrangle on the University of Chicago campus, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
California Highway Patrol officers clash with protesters at UC San Diego Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared a campus Pro-Palestinian encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
A Pro-Palestinian protester is hit with a baton by a police officer at UC San Diego, Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared a campus encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
A demonstrator carries a Palestinian flag beside a line of demonstrators Monday, May 6, 2024, in at MIT in Cambridge, Mass. after several hundred demonstrators crossed torn down barricades and joined pro-Palestinian demonstrators that been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
Police officers look on as a worker removes signs from a Pro-Palestinian encampment set up in front of Geisel Library at UC San Diego, Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared the campus encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Pro-Palestinian protestors stand on Massachusetts Avenue near a student encampment on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, after a 2:30pm deadline passed to leave the encampment, Monday May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Steve LeBlanc)
Graduate student Bataya Kline speaks at a Pro-Palestinian rally Monday, May 6, 2024 at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn. where a weeklong encampment has grown to more than 100 tents. Wesleyan officials have said they will allow the encampment to remain as long as the protests are peaceful and do not disrupt campus life. (AP Photo/Pat Eaton-Robb)
Graduate student Bataya Kline speaks at a Pro-Palestinian rally Monday, May 6, 2024 at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut where a weeklong encampment has grown to more than 100 tents. Wesleyan officials have said they will allow the encampment to remain as long as the protests are peaceful and do not disrupt campus life. (AP Photo/Pat Eaton-Robb)
A student protester works on her laptop in a pro-Palestinian encampment at Main Quadrangle on the University of Chicago campus, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Police officers clash with Pro-Palestinian protesters at UC San Diego, Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared a campus Pro-Palestinian encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Students and passersby watch from a nearby building steps as Pro-Palestinian protestors gather outside a student encampment on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, after a 2:30pm deadline passed to leave the encampment, Monday May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Steve LeBlanc)
Police officers clash with Pro-Palestinian protesters at UC San Diego Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared a campus encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Workers remove tents and debris from a Pro-Palestinian encampment set up in front of Geisel Library at UC San Diego, Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared the campus encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Workers remove tents and debris from a Pro-Palestinian encampment set up in front of Geisel Library at UC San Diego, Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared the campus encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
A student walks in a pro-Palestinian encampment at Main Quadrangle on the University of Chicago campus Monday, May 6, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
New York City police officers stand on the Columbia University campus, amongst the equipment that was to be used to host a large graduation ceremony, in New York, Monday, May 6, 2024. The university says it is canceling its university-wide commencement ceremony following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests. Smaller school-based ceremonies are still on for this week and next. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A New York City police officer looks over the center of Columbia University, the usual site of a large graduation ceremony, in New York, Monday, May 6, 2024. The university says it is canceling its university-wide commencement ceremony following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests. Smaller school-based ceremonies are still on for this week and next. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A New York City police officer walks past seating that was to be used for a large graduation ceremony at Columbia University in New York, Monday, May 6, 2024. The university says it is canceling its university-wide commencement ceremony following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests. Smaller school-based ceremonies are still on for this week and next. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag at a pro-Palestinian encampment at MIT, May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. Several hundred demonstrators crossed breached barricades to join pro-Palestinian demonstrators that been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
Demonstrators breech barricades that had been erected outside a pro-Palestinian encampment at MIT, May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. Several hundred demonstrators crossed the barricades to join pro-Palestinian demonstrators that been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
Demonstrators tear down barricades that had been erected outside a pro-Palestinian encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. Several hundred demonstrators crossed the barricades to join pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
“The university remains a place where dissenting voices have many avenues to express themselves, but we cannot enable an environment where the expression of some dominates and disrupts the healthy functioning of the community for the rest,” Alivisatos wrote in a message to the university community.
Tensions have continued to ratchet up in standoffs with protesters on campuses across the U.S. — and increasingly, in Europe — nearly three weeks into a movement launched by a protest at Columbia University. Some colleges cracked down immediately on protests against the Israel-Hamas war. Among those that have tolerated the tent encampments, some have begun to lose patience and call in police over concerns about disruptions to campus life, safety and the involvement of nonstudents.
Since April 18, just over 2,600 people have been arrested on 50 campuses, figures based on AP reporting and statements from universities and law enforcement agencies.
But not all schools are taking that approach, with some letting protesters hold rallies and organize their encampments as they see fit.
The president of Wesleyan University, a liberal arts school in Connecticut, has commended the on-campus demonstration — which includes a pro-Palestinian tent encampment — as an act of political expression. The camp there has grown from about 20 tents a week ago to more than 100.
“The protesters’ cause is important — bringing attention to the killing of innocent people,” university President Michael Roth wrote to the campus community Thursday. “And we continue to make space for them to do so, as long as that space is not disruptive to campus operations.”
The Rhode Island School of Design, where students started occupying a building Monday, affirms students’ rights to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly and supports all members of the community, a spokesperson said. The school said President Crystal Williams spent more than five hours with the protesters that evening discussing their demands.
On Tuesday the school announced it was relocating classes that were scheduled to take place in the building. It was covered with posters reading “Free Palestine” and “Let Gaza Live,” and dove was drawn in colored chalk on the sidewalk.
Campuses have tried tactics from appeasement to threats of disciplinary action to resolve the protests and clear the way for commencements.
At the University of Chicago, hundreds of protesters gathered for at least eight days until administrators warned them Friday to leave or face removal. On Tuesday, law enforcement dismantled the encampment.
Officers later picked up a barricade erected to keep protesters out of the Quad and moved it toward the demonstrators, some of whom chanted, “Up, up with liberation. Down, down with occupation!” Police and protesters pushed back and forth along the barricade as the officers moved to reestablish control.
Officials at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, told deans and department chairs Monday that some students have been informed by instructors opposing the suspension of student protesters that they will withhold grades.
The school provost’s office said it will support “sanctions for any instructor who is found to have improperly withheld grades.”
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, protesters were given a deadline to voluntarily leave or face suspension. Many left, according to an MIT spokesperson, who said protesters breached fencing after the arrival of demonstrators from outside the university. On Monday night, dozens remained at the encampment in a calmer atmosphere.
MIT officials said the following day that dozens of interim suspensions and discipline committee referrals were in process, actions taken to ensure the “safety of our community.”
Sam Ihns, a graduate student studying mechanical engineering and a member of MIT Jews for a Ceasefire, said the group has been there for two weeks and is calling for an end to the killing in Gaza.
“Specifically, our encampment is protesting MIT’s direct research ties to the Israeli Ministry of Defense,” he said.
Many protesters want schools to divest from companies that do business with Israel or otherwise contribute to the war effort. Others simply want to call attention to the deaths in Gaza and for the war to end.
Wesleyan senior Uday Narayanan said students there are prepared to protest through the summer if that’s what it takes for their demands to be met.
“Our tuition dollars are still going toward the brutalization of Palestinians,” the 21-year-old physics major said. “So, ultimately, even though our president has said, ‘Oh, I’m not going to call the cops. Oh, I’m not going to beat up students,’ that’s still not enough, and that’s not the bare minimum for us.”
And as Wesleyan's May 26 commencement approaches, some protesters fear they will be forcibly removed from the center of campus, adjacent to the field where the ceremony is to take place.
“The longer we are here, the more that their facade of laid back, hands off is falling away,” said Batya Kline, a 22-year-old graduate student. “We know that the university does not want us here, and we know that they can change their pace at the drop of a hat without letting us know.”
Frank Straub, senior director of violence prevention at nonprofit advocacy organization Safe and Sound Schools, said these and past protests have shown the need for early dialogue among the university, police and protesters to establish ground rules.
Straub said Wesleyan, for example, needs to have conversations about commencement and where protesters can be, and should make sure a plan is in place to respond, should protesters want to get arrested, so that can be done without violence.
“By their nature, protests are adversarial, but I think we can have controlled adversity,” he added. “And I think the more campus officials are engaged with the protesters and the more police are included in those conversations, that’s critically important.”
The protests stem from the conflict that started Oct. 7 when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking roughly 250 hostages.
Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel launched an offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 34,500 Palestinians, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. Israeli strikes have devastated the enclave and displaced most of its inhabitants.
LeBlanc reported from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Associated Press journalists around the U.S. and world contributed, including Jeff Amy, Christopher Weber, Mike Corder, Barbara Surk, Rick Callahan, Sarah Brumfield and Pietro de Cristofaro.
A small group of University of Southern Mississippi students and activists hold Pro-Palestinian signs protesting the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, during an hour-long silent protest on the school's campus, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Hattiesburg, Miss. The 50 demonstrators drew no counter protesters or hecklers. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
BJ Brumley, left, and fellow University of Southern Mississippi student Vinny Halsey, hold Pro-Palestinian signs protesting the Israel Hamas war in Gaza, during an hour-long silent protest on the school's campus, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Hattiesburg, Miss. The group of almost 50 demonstrators drew no counter protesters or hecklers. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Young Muslim girls take part in a prayer service near the University California, Irvine pro-Palestinian encampment on Monday, May 6, 2024, in Irvine, Calif. (Mindy Schauer/The Orange County Register via AP)
Ramon Nacanaynay of Long Beach, Miss., holds a sign calling for a ceasefire of the Israel Hamas war in Gaza, during an hour-long silent protest on the University of Southern Mississippi campus, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Hattiesburg, Miss. The group of almost 50 demonstrators drew no counter protesters or hecklers. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
An Israeli flag, top, flies Tuesday, May 7, 2024, near an encampment of tents, behind left, on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus, in Cambridge, Mass., set up by MIT students and supporters to protest what they said was the school's failure to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and to cut ties to Israel's military. The Israeli flags were put in place following the establishment of the tent encampment that was built to demand that MIT condemn Israel's war effort in Gaza. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
An activist uses keffiyeh scarves tied together to hoist a banner through an upper floor window of a Rhode Island School of Design building they have partially taken over Tuesday, May 7, 2024, at RISD, in Providence, R.I. The students and supporters are demanding that RISD condemn Israel's war effort in Gaza, and that the school divest from investments that benefit Israel. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
A passer-by, right, uses a mobile device to record a barrier with placards at an pro-Palestinian encampment of tents on the campus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. Students at MIT set up the encampment to protest what they said was MIT's failure to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and to cut ties to Israel's military. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Rhode Island School of Design students and supporters gather near a Palestinian flag, left, outside a building at RISD, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Providence, R.I. Student activists and supporters, who have taken over a portion of the building, are demanding that the school condemn Israel's war effort in Gaza, and that the school divest from investments that benefit Israel. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
An activist wearing a keffiyeh pauses at an entrance to a building at Rhode Island School of Design, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Providence, R.I. Student activists and supporters, who have taken over a portion of the building, are demanding that the school condemn Israel's war effort in Gaza, and that the school divest from investments that benefit Israel. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Placards lay on the ground outside an entrance to a building at Rhode Island School of Design that has been partially taken over by students and supporters, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Providence, R.I. The activists are demanding that RISD condemn Israel's war effort in Gaza, and that the school divest from investments that benefit Israel. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Activists attach a rolled placard to keffiyeh scarves tied together to form a line as they prepare to hoist the banner through an upper floor window to protesters occupying a portion of the building at Rhode Island School of Design, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Providence, R.I. The activists are demanding that RISD condemn Israel's war effort in Gaza, and that the school divest from investments that benefit Israel. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
A passer-by walks past an entrance to a building at Rhode Island School of Design, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Providence, R.I. Student activists and supporters, who have taken over a portion of the building, are demanding that the school condemn Israel's war effort in Gaza, and that the school divest from investments that benefit Israel. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Activists hang a placard from a window of an upper floor of a building at Rhode Island School of Design, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Providence, R.I. RISD students and supporters, who have taken over a portion of the building, are demanding that the school condemn Israel's war effort in Gaza, and that the school divest from investments that benefit Israel. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Bernardine Dohrn, left, and Bill Ayers, center, founders of the Weather Underground, participate in a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Chicago Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
UCLA faculty members support students protesting the Gaza war and the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza on Monday, May 6, 2024. A number of student protestors were arrested early Monday in a UCLA parking lot for violating a curfew on campus. (David Crane/The Orange County Register via AP)
Pro-Palestinian protesters chant at University of Chicago police while being kept from the university's quad as the student encampment is dismantled Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Pro-Palestinian protesters push back as University of Chicago police officers reposition a barricade keeping protesters from the university's quad while the student encampment is dismantled Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Pro-Palestinian protesters support the positions held by others as University of Chicago police officers reposition a barricade keeping protesters from the university's quad while the student encampment is dismantled Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Pro-Palestinian protesters chat as police kept them away from the university's quad while the student encampment is dismantled at the University of Chicago, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Pro-Palestinian protesters return to the University of Chicago's quad outside Levi Hall as as a patchwork of dying grass mark the locations of tents in an encampment that was dismantled in the pre-dawn hours by university police Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Pro-Palestinian protesters lock arms and clasp their hands as a University of Chicago police officer holds onto a barricade while officers kept protesters from the university's quad while the student encampment is dismantled Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
A pro-Palestinian protester rests her head on her clasped hands while she stands before University of Chicago police officers while officers kept protesters from the university's quad while the student encampment is dismantled Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Police block pro-Palestinian protesters from returning to their encampment as the encampment is dismantled at the University of Chicago, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Pro-Palestinian protestors link arms and take back a student encampment on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, after a 2:30pm deadline passed to leave the encampment, Monday May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Steve LeBlanc)
Protesters at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology gather around a tent encampment Monday evening, May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass., after police and school officials failed to clear out the protest earlier in the day. (Steve LeBlanc)
A police officer watches demonstrators after hundreds crossed breached barricades around a pro-Palestinian encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. Protesters crossed the barricades to join other pro-Palestinian demonstrators who'd been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
Police block pro-Palestinian protesters from returning to their encampment as the encampment is dismantled at the University of Chicago, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Police block pro-Palestinian protesters from returning to their encampment as the encampment is dismantled at the University of Chicago, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
A police officer stands guard blocking pro-Palestinian protesters from returning to their encampment as the encampment is dismantled at the University of Chicago, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
A police officer walks between police and pro-Palestinian protesters as the police block pro-Palestinian protesters from returning to their encampment as the encampment is dismantled at the University of Chicago, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
A police officer stands guard blocking pro-Palestinian protesters from returning to their encampment as the encampment is dismantled at the University of Chicago, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
A pro-Palestinian protester leads chants at the university's police as they are kept from the university's quad while the student encampment is dismantled at the University of Chicago, on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Demonstrators lock arms after crossing breeched barricades around a pro-Palestinian encampment at MIT, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. Protesters crossed the barricades to join other pro-Palestinian demonstrators who'd been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
A man cheers after fellow demonstrators breeched barricades that had been erected around a pro-Palestinian encampment at MIT, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. Protesters crossed the barricades to join other pro-Palestinian demonstrators who'd been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
A demonstrator carries supplies over breached barriers to join a pro-Palestinian encampment, Monday, May 6, 2024, in at MIT in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
Demonstrators storm breached barriers to join a pro-Palestinian encampment, Monday, May 6, 2024, in at MIT in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
A demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag, Monday, May 6, 2024, in at MIT in Cambridge, Mass. after several hundred demonstrators tore down barricades and joined pro-Palestinian demonstrators that been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
A sign is seen on the fence in a pro-Palestinian encampment at Main Quadrangle on the University of Chicago campus, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
California Highway Patrol officers clash with protesters at UC San Diego Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared a campus Pro-Palestinian encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
A Pro-Palestinian protester is hit with a baton by a police officer at UC San Diego, Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared a campus encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
A demonstrator carries a Palestinian flag beside a line of demonstrators Monday, May 6, 2024, in at MIT in Cambridge, Mass. after several hundred demonstrators crossed torn down barricades and joined pro-Palestinian demonstrators that been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
Police officers look on as a worker removes signs from a Pro-Palestinian encampment set up in front of Geisel Library at UC San Diego, Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared the campus encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Pro-Palestinian protestors stand on Massachusetts Avenue near a student encampment on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, after a 2:30pm deadline passed to leave the encampment, Monday May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Steve LeBlanc)
Graduate student Bataya Kline speaks at a Pro-Palestinian rally Monday, May 6, 2024 at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn. where a weeklong encampment has grown to more than 100 tents. Wesleyan officials have said they will allow the encampment to remain as long as the protests are peaceful and do not disrupt campus life. (AP Photo/Pat Eaton-Robb)
Graduate student Bataya Kline speaks at a Pro-Palestinian rally Monday, May 6, 2024 at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut where a weeklong encampment has grown to more than 100 tents. Wesleyan officials have said they will allow the encampment to remain as long as the protests are peaceful and do not disrupt campus life. (AP Photo/Pat Eaton-Robb)
A student protester works on her laptop in a pro-Palestinian encampment at Main Quadrangle on the University of Chicago campus, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Police officers clash with Pro-Palestinian protesters at UC San Diego, Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared a campus Pro-Palestinian encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Students and passersby watch from a nearby building steps as Pro-Palestinian protestors gather outside a student encampment on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, after a 2:30pm deadline passed to leave the encampment, Monday May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Steve LeBlanc)
Police officers clash with Pro-Palestinian protesters at UC San Diego Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared a campus encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Workers remove tents and debris from a Pro-Palestinian encampment set up in front of Geisel Library at UC San Diego, Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared the campus encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Workers remove tents and debris from a Pro-Palestinian encampment set up in front of Geisel Library at UC San Diego, Monday, May 6, 2024, in San Diego. Police cleared the campus encampment in the early morning Monday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
A student walks in a pro-Palestinian encampment at Main Quadrangle on the University of Chicago campus Monday, May 6, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
New York City police officers stand on the Columbia University campus, amongst the equipment that was to be used to host a large graduation ceremony, in New York, Monday, May 6, 2024. The university says it is canceling its university-wide commencement ceremony following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests. Smaller school-based ceremonies are still on for this week and next. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A New York City police officer looks over the center of Columbia University, the usual site of a large graduation ceremony, in New York, Monday, May 6, 2024. The university says it is canceling its university-wide commencement ceremony following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests. Smaller school-based ceremonies are still on for this week and next. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A New York City police officer walks past seating that was to be used for a large graduation ceremony at Columbia University in New York, Monday, May 6, 2024. The university says it is canceling its university-wide commencement ceremony following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests. Smaller school-based ceremonies are still on for this week and next. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag at a pro-Palestinian encampment at MIT, May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. Several hundred demonstrators crossed breached barricades to join pro-Palestinian demonstrators that been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
Demonstrators breech barricades that had been erected outside a pro-Palestinian encampment at MIT, May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. Several hundred demonstrators crossed the barricades to join pro-Palestinian demonstrators that been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
Demonstrators tear down barricades that had been erected outside a pro-Palestinian encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Monday, May 6, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. Several hundred demonstrators crossed the barricades to join pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had been given a deadline to leave the encampment. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
