MIT begins issuing suspensions to students participating in protest encampment

Massachusetts Institute of Technology administration began issuing suspensions Wednesday night to students who participated in the encampment on Kresge Lawn protesting the war in Gaza.

The university would not confirm Wednesday how many suspensions it's issued or how it determined who was deserving of that punishment. Protesters told WBUR there did not appear to be a specific reason that some participating students were suspended while others were not.

The terms of the discipline depend on the type of suspension students were given, according to a letter outlining consequences published by MIT administrators. Those facing "interim academic suspension" won't be allowed to finish their end-of-semester work and cannot be employed by the school. Those facing "interim full suspensions" are not allowed to finish their work, and additionally barred from campus, including to access their dorm rooms or use their meal plans.

Safiyyah Ogundipe, a senior chemical engineering major at MIT, said she received a full suspension. She called MIT’s safety reasoning behind the suspensions “ridiculous.”

“How is it for the safety of the community to withhold dining and housing for lots of students?” she said, speaking to WBUR at the encampment. “How is it safety of the community to suspend students from their academics? How is it safety for the community to prevent grad workers from being able to do their studies and their work and their hours and not being able to get paid?”

Ogundipe said that while the terms of full suspension restricted her from housing access, she is still staying in her dorm and that students and faculty are advocating to allow students to remain housed. She also said community members are offering housing for those who received full suspensions.

MIT President Sally Kornbluth had warned on Monday that suspensions would come to those participating, writing in a letter to students that the use of campus property without permission for the encampment was "is no longer safely sustainable."

In response to the administration's increasing pressure to end the encampment, protesters broke down the barricades around the tents Monday evening and reclaimed the space on Kresge Lawn.

Despite the suspensions, the encampment remained standing on a soggy Wednesday night. Campus protesters have called for MIT to stop research that directly or indirectly benefits Israel's Ministry of Defense, cut any ministry involvement in non-research initiatives and to provide transitional funding for graduates and staffers whose work may be affected by ending those relationships.

With reporting from WBUR's Max Larkin and Barbara Moran.