On September 20, 2024, a group of students organizing in support of Palestine staged a short, peaceful sit-in inside a conference room in North College. In reaction to the sit-in, the University called the Middletown Police Department and placed five students in handcuffs stating they were under arrest. The students were detained by the police for nearly two hours, during which they were denied access to the bathroom, aggressively frisked, threatened with an exorbitant $50,000 bail and suspension, and had their belongings confiscated. The students received six disciplinary points for disturbance of the peace, disruption to university operations, failure to comply with university personnel, and will be placed on disciplinary probation for one year.
On September 21, 2024, during a board of trustees retreat, a large group of students, alumni, faculty, staff, and community members from other Palestinian advocacy groups gathered outside of the Frank Center for Public Affairs for a rally in support of divestment of the endowment from companies that benefit from and contribute to the genocide in Palestine. Throughout this rally, student organizers led chants, played musical instruments, and took up space to make their voices heard to the board of trustees. The community remembers many of these kinds of rallies last year and throughout decades of student activism on Wesleyan’s campus. Following the 9/21 rally, administrators charged eight students, four of which received a disciplinary outcome of six points for the 9/20 sit-in thus making them at risk for suspension or expulsion from Wesleyan, with harassment and abuse, disruption, disturbance of the peace, and presumably property misuse. In particular, eyewitnesses present at the rally testify that there was no harassment or abuse during the demonstration. Additionally, students facing suspension from the University are at risk of having their lives significantly affected if they are suspended or expelled, possibly losing their stable housing, meal plan, and tuition and financial aid moving forward.
We, the Wesleyan Alumni for Justice in Palestine, denounce this repressive and disproportionate disciplinary treatment of these student activists. This kind of disciplinary action sets a dangerous precedent for all student activism on campus. Activism is an integral part of Wesleyan’s past, present, and future. President Roth himself has praised student activists’ engagement in political organizing in the past, even writing in The New York Times that he hopes campus “is even more political this year.” If Roth’s statement is true, then the problem with this particular political action is that it is on behalf of Palestine. This is an example of “the Palestine exception,” a term coined by Palestine Legal, an independent organization dedicated to protecting the rights of people speaking out against the Israeli occupation of Palestine, who reports that American institutions, particularly universities, have a documented history of enacting disproportionately punitive measure toward activists organizing for Palestine over other causes.
Our message is clear: we call on President Michael Roth, Vice President for Student Affairs Michael Whaley, Provost Nicole Stanton, Dean of Students Richard Culliton, Associate Dean of Students Fran Koerting, and Assistant Dean of Students Kevin Butler to immediately withdraw these baseless and punitive disciplinary charges in the interest of the livelihoods of these student activists and the future of free speech and political expression on Wesleyan’s campus.
Arabella Katz ’24 on behalf of Wesleyan Alumni for Justice in Palestine.
Arabella Katz is a member of the class of 2024 and can be reached at akkatz@wesleyan.edu.