Current News

/

ArcaMax

Penn says it will pursue disciplinary action against encamped pro-Palestinian protesters

Beatrice Forman, Susan Snyder and Anthony R. Wood, The Philadelphia Inquirer on

Published in News & Features

PHILADELPHIA — University of Pennsylvania officials said Tuesday that they were pursuing possible disciplinary action against pro-Palestinian protesters who have defied repeated orders to end their encampment, which showed every indication of extending to a seventh day on Wednesday.

“We have clearly communicated to the protesters in the encampment that they are in violation of the university’s policies,” Penn said in a statement, adding that any offenders, including faculty or staff, would be subject to “disciplinary processes.”

Thus far, the Penn protest has been absent of the turmoil and arrests that have occurred on other campuses, including Columbia and Princeton Universities, and no violent incidents or arrests have been reported at the West Philadelphia site since the tents were erected on Thursday.

At 9:35 p.m. Friday, interim president J. Larry Jameson had issued an order for the protesters to vacate the grounds “immediately.”

But four days after the cease-and-disband order, about 60 protesters remained at the College Green site and did not appear to be exactly cowering before the university’s threats. Penn encampment organizers said they met with university leadership Tuesday and were no closer to having their demands met.

They refused to show identification to officials from the Office on Open Expression, who were taking photos of the resisters. “Cover your faces,” an organizer shouted.

 

Those who failed to display IDs would be considered trespassers, a university employee told some of the encampment participants, all of whom refused to show identification. Soon thereafter, some of the campers began chanting “shame on UPenn.”

In a statement Tuesday, Penn encampment organizers accused the university of using ID checks as “intimidation tactics” in an effort to “distract non-Penn affiliated persons from their right to protest.”

About 35 tents have remained at the site, along with copious supplies of donated bottled water and food, including doughnuts, pizza, popsicles, and fruit. In the last six days, the campers had experienced four seasons of weather, with temperatures in the 40s during the weekend mornings and up to 90 on Monday afternoon.

No confrontations have been reported between the protesters and counter-demonstrators, although about 25 pro-Israeli demonstrators appeared in the vicinity of encampment during the weekend.

...continued

swipe to next page

©2024 The Philadelphia Inquirer. Visit inquirer.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus