Boston-area students set up encampments to protest war in Gaza

Students from several Boston-area colleges have joined a growing national protest following last week's mass arrests and suspensions of pro-Palestinian Columbia University students calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.

About two dozen protesters sat on MIT's Kresge Lawn, huddled over laptops Monday morning, studying in thick coats and blankets. Safiyyah Ogundipe, a senior, said she arrived the night before.

“It seems like there's a really big shift in what people are willing to do, the risks people are willing to take, and we just kind of want to kind of seize on that energy,” said Ogundipe, a protest organizer who is studying chemical engineering.

Demonstrators said they want MIT's administration to cut ties with Israel related to funding and academic projects.

At MIT, the encampment of about a dozen tents was peaceful but the mood was tense. A campus police officer followed Ogundipe from a distance as she spoke to a reporter.

Talia Khan, president of the MIT Israel Alliance, said protests at other campuses have made Jewish students anxious ahead of Passover observances this evening.

“I have friends at Columbia who were texting me and so scared and I was like, 'God, please don't let that happen at MIT,' ” said Khan, a graduate student studying mechanical engineering.

MIT officials are considering what to do next about the encampment. In a written statement, a spokeswoman said administrators are focused on ensuring the campus is “physically safe and fully functioning."

Student protesters also camped out Sunday night near Emerson College.

Meanwhile, a sign said Harvard Yard was closed to the public Monday. It said structures, including tents and tables, were only allowed into the yard with prior permission. “Students violating these policies are subject to disciplinary action,” the sign said. Security guards were checking people for school IDs.

The same day, the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee said the university’s administration suspended their group. In the suspension notice provided by the student organization, the university wrote that the group's April 19 demonstration had violated school policy, and that the organization failed to attend required trainings after they were previously put on probation.

The Palestine Solidarity Committee said in a statement that they were suspended over technicalities and that the university hadn't provided written clarification on the university's policies when asked.

“Harvard has shown us time and again that Palestine remains the exception to free speech," the group wrote in a statement.

Harvard did not respond to an email request for comment.

The Boston encampments follow a week of chaos at Columbia University after President Minouche Shafik's decision to call in New York police to roust and arrest students. Four of those students have been suspended and barred from their dorm rooms, according to the student-run Columbia Spectator. Shafik's decision came just days after she appeared before a Congressional committee, where she was grilled about instances of antisemitism on campus.

The fallout from the arrests and suspensions was so contentious that administrators shifted classes online this week to ease tensions. Faculty members walked out of class and rallied on campus Monday to oppose Shafik's having called on police.

In Connecticut, the Yale Police Department told NPR 40 to 45 people were arrested at weekend protests. And protests were spreading to other campuses Monday, including at New York University, where police were gathering Monday evening after the administration ordered the protesting students to disperse.

With reporting from The Associated Press

Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled the surname of Talia Khan. The story has been updated. We regret the error.