Re: Student and alumni groups react to May 1 protest
Now let me see if I’ve got this right. Before the protesters created an encampment by pitching tents on the Dartmouth Green, they were warned that doing so would violate College regulations and town ordinances. If they proceeded, there would be consequences — potentially including arrest and disciplinary action by the College. Nonetheless, the protesters defied the College and set up tents on the Green. No one should be surprised that the College took steps to bring the encampment to an end. Failure to do so would only encourage others to violate College policies and town ordinances.
Why did the College feel it necessary to nip this prohibited encampment in the bud? One must look at how other universities responded to similar situations. Permitting similar encampments to continue only saw them increase in size, draw protesters with no relationship to the university and, in some cases — such as Columbia or UCLA — turn violent and antisemitic. However, the police may have been heavy-handed in the way they broke up the encampment. That is regrettable.
A large portion of the faculty, not surprisingly, found the arrest of Dartmouth students unacceptable. Would they have been as sympathetic toward arrested students, and as critical of the actions of the administration, had a group of fraternity brothers set up an encampment on the Green and been arrested for protesting the College’s efforts to quash the Masters’ Pong Tournament? (A rhetorical question, but I think we all know the answer).
What has happened to the protests since the arrests? For weeks after May 1, protesters continued each day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the lawn of Baker Library, with no tents and no opposition from the administration, because these protests were undertaken in compliance with the regulations of the College and town ordinances. The same goes for the striking graduate students who protested daily at the senior fence straight through Commencement on June 9, striking peacefully and in accordance with College standards.
I commend College President Sian Leah Beilock for enforcing the College regulations and the town ordinances, and for permitting and encouraging civil and peaceful dialogue to take place as evidenced by the protests that continued for weeks on the lawn of Baker Library. I hope that dialogue will continue, as members of this community struggle with this very contentious issue.
John Engelman is a member of the Class of 1968. Letters to the Editor represent the views of their author(s), which are not necessarily those of The Dartmouth.
