Latest news with #SmithUnion
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bowdoin College suspends 8 students in pro-Palestinian encampment
Feb. 10—Bowdoin College has suspended eight students for their involvement in a pro-Palestinian encampment inside the college's student union, according to protest organizers. A spokesperson for the college did not respond to emails Monday asking to confirm the suspensions. The organization planned a rally outside the union at 5 p.m. Monday, the same time the suspensions were said to go into effect. 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 protest 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 passed last spring that called on Bowdoin to take an institutional stand against the Israeli government and not make future investments in arms manufacturers. 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 of 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 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. Eight students remained in the encampment as of 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." This story will be updated. 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
