Pro-Palestinian protests spread to two Vermont colleges

Burlington, VT – Pro-Palestinian demonstrators have set up tent encampments at the University of Vermont and Middlebury College, joining the growing movement of pro-Palestinian sentiment on college campuses.

Middlebury students set up a campus encampment adorned with Palestinian flags and signs demanding that the college divest from all of its Israeli holdings. The signs also ask that the school grant amnesty to protesters, boycott association with the Israel Institute and other institutions and businesses, and to create relationships with Palestinian institutions instead.

“We have been keeping track of the national movements and the events going on in Gaza,” said Beck Orten, a spokesperson for the student protesters. “We’re really trying to tap into Middlebury’s history of student activism and the history of student activism in nationwide politics. We know that we have a lot of power and we’re trying to capitalize on that.”

Students at the University of Vermont held a similar demonstration Sunday, setting up a protest encampment on the Andrew Harris Commons. Police presence was strong around the protesters, with officers and cruisers stationed at the exits to the Commons. UVM Police officers kept members of the media outside the encampment.

Officers said that while the students’ protest does not violate any of UVM’s rules on free speech and protest, the encampment does. Unpermitted temporary structures are not allowed on campus, putting the tent’s in conflict with university regulations.

These demonstrations are some of the latest in a trend seen on many college campuses across the country. Some protests at other institutions have resulted in the arrest of students, and action taken by administrators against students.

Middlebury issued a statement supporting their students’ right to exercise free speech in a safe and peaceful way. It is not clear at the present time whether UVM’s administration or law enforcement will engage with students participating in the protest.

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