Case Western Reserve University Bars Some Pro-Palestine Student Protesters From Graduation, Campus

Last Friday, after a week and a half of operating a tiny tent village in front of Case Western's Kelvin Smith Library on campus, pro-Palestine protesters announced that they would be dissolving the Gaza Solidarity Encampment they created.

They cited two escalating sources of tension: That President Eric Kaler had days before threatened the students with possible civil law violations, and that a growing list of dissenters had been causing safety concerns, from "extremist agitators" to Zionists vowing to "set fire to the encampment," a letter from student leaders said.

“While the encampment is coming to an end, the commitment to the cause remains unwavering,” it continued.

On Monday morning, despite the agreement to vacate, some protesters affiliated with the encampment were sent emails from the university's Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards bearing news that they were the subject of an investigation concerning their involvement in the encampment.

Those receiving notices  were issued an interim ban from campus and all campus activities, and graduating seniors would have their degrees withheld, pending the outcome of the investigation.

“Case Western Reserve has initiated its student conduct process—including temporary withholding of degrees and bans from university property," a spokesperson for Case wrote, "and issued notices prohibiting from campus third parties involved with the unsanctioned encampment on private property."

"This action follows repeated warnings from President Kaler," it went on, "to those remaining in the unsanctioned encampment and, later, to those blocking access to Adelbert Hall."
[content-1] Like many of the protests and encampments that have popped up on college campuses in the past month, the protesters at Case had used their sudden tent village—with its First Aid tent and own library—to attempt pressure CWRU into divesting its financial stakes in Israeli companies. Kaler hit back on May 8 with a foot-down measure: "Divestment is and remains something the university will not do," he wrote.

In the past week, as commencement ceremonies loom, such protests have come to a head, in a wild variety of directions. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, admins agreed to join calls for a cease-fire , and possibly abandon Israeli investments, after protesters agreed to dismantle their encampment. At Trinity College in Dublin, officials said they would do away with all of their stakes in companies tacked to Israel altogether.

For Case protesters, their week preceding graduation is different. For the two dozen or so students that stayed for long bouts of time in the encampment, the university will now deem them "persona non grata," and essentially bar them from campus until a formal hearing to, the email said, "ensure the safety and well-being of members of the university community."

Those with student housing, the office said, will have to vacate by 3 p.m. Monday. None can be on campus until their formal hearing.

“Failure to adhere to this notice will be considered an additional code of conduct violation and may result in further conduct charges and sanctions," the email read.

Although about three dozen or so protesters were detained briefly in mid-May, acts of blatant violence have either not existed or not warranted major charges. In interviews with the encamped last Wednesday, those present told Scene they had been verbally assaulted by Zionist sympathizers, and had even prepared tiered response plan if counter-protesters got physical. Or, of course, if their village was raided by police.

On Kaler's side, the president and his Office of Student Conduct claimed that recent chants and graffiti—especially one spelling "YOU CAN'T HIDE" on Eldred Hall—veered on antisemitism, and were threatening to Jewish students who wished to remain neutral and unopposed.

Which, to students now banned from campus, seems a bit misdirected.

"This is terribly consistent with what the university has been doing from the beginning of this movement," Olivia Cobb, a third-year student and member of Law Students for Justice in Palestine, told Scene.

"They are spinning a narrative in which they are heroes," she added, "while they are using backdoor channels to threaten, intimidate and harass students into giving up their ability to access free speech, and giving up their ability to effectively protest."

Cobb, who was once hopeful for her graduation on May 18, expressed a sour feeling of discontentment at this week's news.

When asked if she regrets setting up camp, given the university's response, Cobb turned immediately to Gaza's casualties of war.

"Yes, [the ban's] devastating to me," she said. "But I'm still here. I'm not starving, and I've never been hit with a bomb. And until I have to decide between that and standing up, then there's not a moment of hesitation."

One student affiliated with SJP, and who wished to remain anonymous, told Scene he believe punishment of not graduating with his peers was overbearing for a protest that was, for the most part, reasonable and nonviolent.

"It’s really disheartening and disappointing for me, personally," the student said in a phone call. "It's unfortunate that the campus claims to support First Amendment freedom of speech—but doesn't."

All protesters linked to the encampment will be able to, later this week, appeal the college's decision to ban them. According to the university's student code of conduct policy, a mental health evaluation may be required to win an appeal.

Correction: The original version of this article said a mental health evaluation was required.

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