Princeton College Protestors Evicted, Barred From Campus

PRINCETON, NJ - The 13 Princeton students who were arrested Monday night said they were immediately removed and barred from campus.

The students held a press conference at Palmers Square on Tuesday evening. They said their protest was a peaceful sit-in where they were accompanied by sociology Professor Ruha Benjamin, who acted as their legal and faculty observer.

Students said they prayed and sang together during their brief occupation before being zip-tied and led out of the building.

After students were arrested and put in a campus shuttle for transport, hundreds of other protesters including students, staff and Princeton residents rallied to get them released.

“Upon release, however, we were still banned from campus and evicted from university housing,” a student said. “Those of us who live on campus housing were immediately evicted and given just a few minutes to collect our belongings.”

Students are not sure how long the eviction will last.

However, Rochelle Calhoun, Vice President for Campus Life, sent out a message to the community painting a different picture. She said after students entered Clio Hall, staff were “surrounded, yelled at, threatened, and ultimately ordered out of the building.”

Calhoun said the five undergraduate seniors and six graduate students who were arrested are barred from campus.

“They now face a University disciplinary process that may lead to suspension, the withholding of degrees, or expulsion. While the disciplinary process will proceed promptly and in accordance with University policy, we do not expect that it can be completed before Commencement. Given the egregious nature of their conduct, they are also likely to face serious criminal charges,” Calhoun said.

Calhoun said the Department of Public Safety is investigating others who participated in the “disruption” and more criminal charges may be filed, along with additional University discipline.

“The University will not ask the prosecutor to drop any criminal charges brought against members of our community or outsiders,” Calhoun said in the message.

The students further said that Princeton administrators continue to refuse to meet with the Princeton Gaza Solidarity Encampment’s bargaining team. They said University officials also rejected a request by faculty members who wanted to discuss the arrest of two students last week.

“We will be here until the administration meets with us.”

Meanwhile, University officials said they continue to “provide unwavering support” for academic freedom and free expression–including protests.

“We venerate the free speech that is essential to our scholarly mission. But these guarantees rely upon our community’s willingness to comply with the University’s time, place, and manner regulations,” Calhoun said.

“They do not extend to the violation of our rules or of the law.”

Faculty Releases Statement, Says University Version Of Events ‘Misleading’

In a letter released Wednesday afternoon, Benjamin along with three other faculty members said Calhoun’s version of events ‘bears no resemblance’ to what happened at Clio Hall.

“No one yelled. No one made threats. There were thirteen Princeton-affiliated sit-in participants and one student journalist, and not one treated Princeton staff in an “abusive” fashion,” Benjamin said.

“In short, what we witnessed inside Clio Hall bears no resemblance to VP Calhoun’s letter.”

Benjamin said that Calhoun wrote about the peaceful sit-in in a “misleading and even inflammatory way.”

“It does not reflect the reality that we observed. And we fear that her account may be persuasive to anyone who holds the worst stereotypes about protesters, especially protestors who are Black, Arab, Muslim, Palestinian, or otherwise presumed to be dangerous and threatening,” the letter said.

Benjamin's account of events was confirmed by three other professors - Naomi Murakawa, Associate Professor of African American Studies; Divya Cherian, Associate Professor of History and Dan-el Padilla Peralta, Associate Professor of Classics.

“Perhaps if the administration spent less time trying to discredit protesters and more time engaging them, then we could stop wasting everyone’s time writing letters to clarify some basic facts: Students are not threats. Famine is not good foreign policy. Genocide is a crime. Speaking out against it is not. And Palestine is not the exception.”

Read Ruha Benjamin's statement here.

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