Re: Police arrest 89 individuals at pro-Palestinian protest
I signed the letter published in The Dartmouth on May 6, along with many other senior faculty, to express my support for our wonderful College President Sian Leah Beilock and her administration’s actions on May 1. I felt intimidated by those who tried to take over the Green, which belongs to all of us. It did not seem appropriate to me for anyone — students or faculty — to break the law. In an email sent to the student body, they were warned by Dartmouth before the protest that they were in violation of College policy and hence had to face the consequences of their actions.
The President wrote in her email to campus on May 2 that she was extremely concerned that the violence we have seen on so many other campuses would occur at Dartmouth, whether immediately or in the days following an encampment. On other campuses, encampments have incited violent anger, horribly divided student bodies, created exclusionary zones and attracted outside agitators. We have seen clearly over the last few weeks that, too often, encampments do not foster dialogue; they prevent it.
David Blanchflower is an economics professor at the College. Letters to the editor represent the views of their author(s), which are not necessarily those of The Dartmouth.
