Penn State students demand school ‘divest from death’ as pro-Palestine protests spark in Pa.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ( WTAJ ) – The popping of champagne and the clicking of cameras as soon-to-be Penn State graduates took photos in their caps and gowns came to a halt Saturday afternoon as nearly 400 students and members of the State College Community marched onto the steps of Old Main at Penn State’s campus in protest of U.S. financial backing of Israel in the ongoing Israel-Hamas War in Gaza.

On Wednesday, April 24, Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed a foreign aid bill supplying Israel with $14.1 billion dollars of U.S. funding – a move that ignited demonstrations at universities and colleges nationwide.

Adopting a similar message as protestors at other educational institutions – “Down with imperialism at home and abroad!” – students at Penn State are demanding the school cease acceptance of funding from the United States Department of Defense.

“The money we are talking about is, they fund the ARL – which is the Applied Research Laboratory – which is where they do weapons research, that ultimately goes to support the imperialist militaries around the world,” an organizer with the Penn State Student Committee for Defense and Solidarity said. “They end up, through that research, are supporting the genocide in Palestine by contributing to the development of these weapons.”

While these protests have received criticism , and participants at other institutions have been suspended or even banned from their campus, an organizer of the protest at Penn State said that this demonstration is meant to create unity with the working class both in America and abroad.

“There’s so much love that I felt during this protest. So much joy and celebration,” the organizer said. “And also condemnation of the administration and really the imperialist United States. And so while there is hatred of the ruling class, we love the people.”

However, the organizer does not believe that sense of love and community will be reciprocated by her own university, citing the suspensions, evictions and arrests of student protestors at other schools , prompting her to conceal her identity.

“Ultimately, the reason that we’re doing this is because the university has not proved to us that they won’t attack us if they see who we are,” she said.

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Campus police, State College Police Department and the Pennsylvania State Police all had a presence at the protest. However, police did allow the demonstration to continue until organizers disbanded it.

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