Around 200 Princeton University undergraduate and graduate students marked the fifth day of a pro-Palestinian sit-in on campus with an attempt to take over Clio Hall April 29, according to published reports.
The pro-Palestinian sit-in began April 25, when students gathered in McCosh Courtyard, next to the Princeton University Chapel. The sit-in was intended to show solidarity with similar pro-Palestinian sit-ins and protests that have cropped up at colleges and universities nationwide.
Meanwhile, the attempt to occupy Clio Hall, which is located across Cannon Green from Nassau Hall, resulted in the arrest of 13 people for trespassing, according to published reports in the Princeton Alumni Weekly.
Clio Hall is the home of the Princeton University Graduate School.
Those who were arrested included a mix of undergraduate students, graduate students, a post-doctoral researcher and one person who has no connection to Princeton University, published reports said.
Two of the 13 people who were arrested inside Clio Hall were escorted out of the building and were temporarily held on a TigerTransit bus. The crowd of protesters demanded their release and surrounded the bus, which was being protected by Princeton University public safety officers.
The remaining 11 people who were arrested were escorted out of Clio Hall later.
The Princeton Police Department also responded.
The two people who were detained on the bus were identified as a graduate student and a researcher in the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, The Daily Princetonian student newspaper reported. They have been barred from campus and were given time to collect their possessions from campus housing.
Protesters stood on the steps of Clio Hall. Nearby, some students banged make-shift drums – orange plastic buckets – and called for Princeton University to divest from companies that have ties to Israel. It is one of the top demands of the protesters, according to The Daily Princetonian.
Immediately after the effort to take over Clio Hall was concluded, the pro-Palestinian protesters moved their encampment from McCosh Courtyard to Cannon Green. They remained in place on Cannon Green on April 30.
In response, Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber wrote that all of the people who were arrested were issued summonses for trespassing. They have been barred from campus, and will face University discipline that may extend to suspension or expulsion.
“I appreciate that this incident was and remains deeply upsetting to many people, including especially the staff of the Graduate School. It is also completely unacceptable,” Eisgruber wrote. He described the attempt to occupy Clio Hall as a serious breach of the university’s code of conduct.
“Everyone on this campus needs to feel safe and to ensure that this campus is one where all members of the community feel welcome and can thrive. We will continue to be in communication about how we move forward together as a community during a period that has challenged colleges and universities across the country,” Eisgruber wrote.
The pro-Palestinian protesters, meanwhile, have vowed not to leave the campus until their demands for divestment are met. They were still in place on Cannon Green on April 30.