Latest news with #BowdoinSolidarityReferendum
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bowdoin College will not change investment practices after pro-Palestine encampment
Mar. 7—Bowdoin College has announced that it will not change its investment strategies following a student referendum calling for a halt to investing in companies that manufacture weapons for Israel. The decision was made by an ad hoc committee and approved by trustees, and comes less than a month after a five-day student encampment protesting the college's lack of action on a student referendum that called for the college to divest all assets it holds in businesses tied to Israel as a form of protest against the war. The college has made divestments in the past, including over apartheid in South Africa and fossil fuels, which leaders said was simpler to do at the time because those were direct investments. Organizers with the group Students for Justice in Palestine launched an encampment inside the student union on Feb. 6, nine months after the majority of Bowdoin students voted in favor of the Bowdoin Solidarity Referendum, which called on the college to issue an institutional statement on Israel's war in Gaza, disclose investments, and not make future investments in companies associated with weapons manufacturing for Israel. The protest at Bowdoin came less than a year after many other college and university students formed encampments to protest college investments in the war, which has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians and 1,200 Israelis and is in a tenuous ceasefire, with Israel recently cutting off all aid to Gaza. President Donald Trump in recent weeks pulled federal funding for some of those schools, like Columbia University, which he said failed to protect Jewish students. Trump has also threatened to deport or arrest students who participate in pro-Palestine protests. There was no encampment at Bowdoin during previous protests. After students passed the referendum, college President Safi Zaki declined to release an institutional statement at the time, and said she would hear from students about the endowment. In September, she created a committee, made up of trustees, administrators, students and faculty to review the college's investment practices. "The committee was formed as a result and in the context of the Solidarity Referendum, but (its) mission was broader. It was not charged with addressing the requests outlined in the referendum," a 12-page report of the committee's findings explains. "Instead, the (its) mandate was to develop recommendations to the board of trustees about how Bowdoin should respond to calls for change in the college's investment strategies, about how these strategies should be communicated, and about how Bowdoin should respond to future specific requests regarding the endowment." On Feb. 28, Zaki and Scott Perper, the chair of the college's board of trustees, authored a letter announcing the results of that committee's work, which included three recommendations: maintaining current endowment investment practices, maintaining the current investment committee structure, and increasing clarity around how the endowment operates. Regarding divestment, Zaki and Perper wrote that maintaining the college's endowment is critical to funding the operating expenses of the school. "We understand that some members of our community feel strongly that there are occasions where Bowdoin should use its endowment to try to effect political change," the letter said. "Even if that were practicable, and even in cases where there is more consensus around a particular viewpoint, we would see our obligation differently. We believe that our core mission as a college is to empower our community to learn from one another, and to bring together faculty, staff, and students with differing and diverse expertise and experiences to bear in those conversations." They also said the complex and outsourced nature of the endowment, which is handled by a variety of third-party fund managers, "makes ongoing disclosure of its holdings an impossibility." During last month's protest, dozens of students set up tents inside a college building, and received disciplinary warnings from administrators over five days. The remaining students eventually agreed to leave after reaching an "understanding" with administrators. Eight students who were suspended by the college say those suspensions were lifted on Feb. 23, although Bowdoin has maintained that it will follow through on disciplinary proceedings for all students. The college has placed the student group Students for Justice in Palestine on temporary suspension. Copy the Story Link
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Suspensions lifted against Bowdoin College students after pro-Palestine encampment
Feb. 24—Bowdoin College has lifted suspensions against eight students who were disciplined for their involvement in a pro-Palestine encampment. "Suspensions lifted!!" an Instagram post from the Bowdoin Students for Justice in Palestine read. "Thanks to all who mobilized, this is proof of our collective strength." A spokesperson for the college did not immediately confirm Monday that the suspensions have been lifted. The student organization also did not respond to messages asking about the disciplinary results. Olivia Kenney, a Bowdoin senior who helped organize the protest, heard over the weekend that her suspension had been lifted, leaving her on probation. The same happened to seven others who joined administrators on a video call Sunday, she said. Kenney, 22, credited the college's decision — which she called unsurprising — to an outpouring of support from fellow students and others across the state following news of the suspensions. "Bowdoin's reaction was very harsh," she said. "It remains unclear to me exactly which policies we violated. And it seems to me that many voices in the Bowdoin community spoke up around the issue of Bowdoin's repression of speech around Palestine." Some of the students who were suspended live in campus housing and had to scramble to find last-minute accommodations, she said. Kenney said she moved back into her dorm Monday. The group organized the protest earlier this month as a response to Bowdoin's lack of action on the Bowdoin Solidarity Referendum, which passed by a wide margin last spring and called on the college to take an institutional stand against the Israeli government and not make future investments in arms manufacturers. The referendum came eight months after Israel invaded Gaza in response to a Hamas attack in October 2023 in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and 240 civilians were taken hostage. The war in Gaza has resulted in the deaths of more than 2,000 Israelis and 46,000 Palestinians, and is currently in a fragile ceasefire. To protest the college's lack of action, about 50 students set up an encampment inside the student center building. The encampment remained standing for five days. College administrators issued disciplinary warnings to students several times over the course of the protest, including in suspension letters given to eight students Monday morning. The protest ultimately ended on Feb. 10 when organizers and the administration reached an understanding and student protesters exited the encampment that evening. However, eight of those students were still suspended and about 50 were facing some sort of disciplinary process. It was not clear Monday what final discipline those other students may have been given. Staff Writer Daniel Kool contributed to this story. Copy the Story Link
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bowdoin students conclude pro-Palestine protest, call action an 'immense success'
Feb. 10—A pro-Palestine encampment at Bowdoin College has ended after organizers reached "an understanding to conclude the encampment" with administrators. The students still inside the building exited during a rally Monday evening. The protest, which began last Thursday, was organized by Bowdoin Students for Justice in Palestine, which announced the event last week as a response to the college's lack of action on a student referendum. The Bowdoin Solidarity Referendum, which passed by a wide margin last spring, called on the college to take an institutional stand against the Israeli government and not make future investments in arms manufacturers. Student protesters set up an encampment inside a student center building Thursday evening. College administrators issued disciplinary warnings to encamped students several times over the course of the protest, including in suspension letters given to eight students Monday morning. Organizer Olivia Kenney left the building Monday night, and said that while the college still isn't making commitments to act on the referendum, students consider the protest a victory. "We concluded this action feeling that it has been an immense success, given that we have successfully proven that advocating for Palestinian liberation on a college campus through mass action can contribute to a national context of discussion," Kenney said. Kenney said conversations Monday evening resulted in an understanding between students, organizers and administrators that the encamped students' good-faith discussions would be taken into consideration during their disciplinary processes, which are ongoing. "The encampment in Smith Union has ended, with all students leaving voluntarily," Bowdoin Director of Communications Doug Cook said in an emailed statement Monday night. "The demonstration repeatedly violated policies within Bowdoin's Code of Community Standards and the participating students have entered the College's disciplinary process." Cook did not offer specifics on the "understanding" described by students. "Bowdoin is a place where free speech and academic freedom are highly valued and encouraged, and all are expected to abide by our policies," he said. "We are committed to fostering open dialogues on difficult issues in a manner that is founded on mutual respect and support." THE ENCAMPMENT BEGINS The protest began Thursday when a group of about 50 students set up tents inside the Smith Union. Some of them remained inside the building through the weekend, even as college administrators issued disciplinary warnings. The protesters said they would stay as long as it took for the college's administration to divest from weapons manufacturing and to take action on other demands from the referendum. "We are encamping Smith Union because we demand better from an institution that claims to care about the common good," organizers said Friday. The protest was also a response to President Donald Trump's comments during a press conference last week, where he said the U.S. would "take over the Gaza Strip." The protest continued throughout the weekend, with community members and students from other colleges gathering outside the building to support the encampment inside, according to reporting from the student newspaper, the Bowdoin Orient. Administrators began collecting student ID numbers late Friday night and started issuing notices of disciplinary hearings. On Monday, the college began issuing temporary suspension letters to students. In a photo of one letter posted to Bowdoin SJP's Instagram, Senior Vice President and Dean for Student Affairs Jim Hoppe informed the student, whose name was redacted, that they were being placed on immediate temporary suspension for staying in Smith Union past 8:30 a.m. Monday. Students were told they had to vacate the campus by 5 p.m. Eight students remained in the encampment on Monday, and all eight received suspension notices, according to Bowdoin Students for Justice in Palestine. "Bowdoin has chosen to crack down and repress the principled dissent of students who asked for nothing more than their institution to live up to its stated values. We are enraged by the weaponization of a disciplinary process against members of this community who have exhausted every other means of advocacy," the group said in a statement Monday afternoon. "Bowdoin's decision to scapegoat students for their failure to lead is a show of cowardice." "RALLY WITH US" In response to the 5 p.m. suspension deadline, organizers planned a rally at the same time, inviting students and community members to protest the discipline and continue to press the college on the referendum's demands. More than 100 people gathered in freezing temperatures outside Smith Union, chanting along with student speakers while those encamped inside the building looked down from second story windows. "The more they try to silence us, the louder we will be," the crowd chanted. Around 6 p.m. Kenney announced from inside the building over a megaphone that students had reached an understanding with the administration, and shortly after, the students exited Smith Union to cheers and hugs from their peers outside. "We launched this encampment as a last resort, because we had exhausted all of the processes the college offered us toward the reasonable demands that we presented for removing our complicity in Israel's genocide of the Palestinian people," Kenney said shortly after leaving Smith Union. They described the college administration's reaction to the protest as "bad faith" but said Monday evening, in the "eleventh hour" the college finally had a productive conversation with the organizers. "Unfortunately, it did not result in meeting (the demands of the) Bowdoin Solidarity Referendum. We will not stop, we are not satisfied, we will continue to hold the school accountable for its complicity in genocide," Kenney said. "Although we reached an understanding to conclude this encampment on the understanding that our good-faith discussions will be communicated as a consideration in the disciplinary process." Eisa Rafat, a student organizer who led chants during the rally, said one constant over the five days of protest was community engagement. "When we called on our students, when we called on our community, they came," he said. Rafat said people showed up in snowstorms, at night, and in freezing temperatures. He said Bowdoin can feel far from the parts of the world where action is, but this protest proved that to be untrue, especially when protesters received messages from a university in Palestine, thanking them for their protest. Copy the Story Link
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bowdoin College students face discipline for pro-Palestine encampment
Feb. 7—Student protestors with Bowdoin Students For Justice in Palestine have set up an encampment inside the college's student union building and are now facing disciplinary action from the school. The organization announced the protest Thursday as the college's board of trustees was meeting. According to the release, the event was planned as a response to the administration's lack of action on the Bowdoin Solidarity Referendum, a student initiative that passed with broad support in May that called on Bowdoin to, among other things, disclose investments in arms manufacturing and commit to not investing in defense industry funds in the future. "Today, we launch this encampment, demanding that Bowdoin immediately commit to fully realizing all four demands of our referendum," the announcement read. The protest also comes just days after President Donald Trump announced plans to "take over the Gaza Strip" and redevelop it during a White House news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Maine's federal delegation decried the announcement as unserious and dangerous. "Trump has vowed his unequivocal support for Israel's genocide, most recently calling for the United States to ethnically cleanse and 'take over' Gaza," the Bowdin SJP announcement read. "Today, we act for our peers in Gaza and the West Bank, heeding the calls of Birzeit University professors and staff: "Gaza is not for sale. Palestine is not a real estate project.'" The protest kicked off with a demonstration outside of the Smith Union building, then students entered the building and set up tents, according to reporting from the Bowdoin Orient. The encampment included a banner reading "Shaban al-Dalou Union," an ode to a Palestinian software student who died in a hospital tent because of an Israeli airstrike, according to organizers. Around midnight, Senior Associate Dean for Student Affairs Katie Toro-Ferrari told students they had to leave the encampment before 1 a.m. or face consequences. "I want to make sure students understand that this could put them on the path where they are jeopardizing their ability to remain as Bowdoin students," she told the Orient. The paper reported that around 1 a.m., college security staff began collecting student IDs, but at least 50 protestors remained. On Friday morning, college security officers blocked access to the building with protestors still inside. Vice President of Student Affairs Jim Hoppe addressed the encampment in an 8 a.m. email to students. "While we support students' right to express their views, it is essential to note that college policy prohibits activities that disrupt the normal operations of the College," Hoppe said. "Smith Union is a shared space, meant to be accessible to all members of our campus community, and no group or individual can restrict access to it." Students began receiving notices about disciplinary hearings, according to posts on the Bowdoin Students For Justice in Palestine Instagram account. At around noon on Friday, the Orient reported that about 20 additional students broke past a line of security officers to enter the building. In a Friday afternoon statement to the Press Herald, organizers of Bowdoin SJP said they would stay encamped for "as long as it takes" to convince the college to divest from weapons industries. "We are encamping Smith Union because we demand better from an institution that claims to care about the common good," they said. Bowdoin Director of Communications Doug Cook shared a statement from the college Friday afternoon, confirming that protestors would be disciplined. "The demonstration that began on our campus on February 6 is in clear violation of our policies, and those students who are participating will be subject to the disciplinary process," Cook said. "Bowdoin's priority is to ensure that all our students, faculty, and staff feel safe and welcome on campus." The college did not answer specific questions about its response to the Bowdoin Solidarity Referendum or student discipline. Protest organizers described the college's actions as egregious, and said students were called in to disciplinary hearings with as little notice as four minutes. "They've tried to isolate us from the broader community, to villainize us to our peers," organizers said. "But we're so heartened by the support we're receiving from students, faculty, and members of the broader Brunswick community. Community power is what has gotten us this far, and community power is how we will win." Copy the Story Link
