On Friday, a University of Pennsylvania Board of Regents meeting was disrupted by a group of pro-Palestinian students protesting the school's involvement with Israel, causing the board to adjourn the meeting about 10 minutes into the meeting.
Shortly after Penn's interim president, J. Larry Jameson, began addressing the university's board of trustees, a group of about a dozen students raised their hands, some painted red to represent blood. There was also It was his first public meeting with board members since he took office in December.
“Now is the time for transparency in donations! Withdrawal from genocide!” the students chanted.
Protesters representing a group called Freedom Schools for Palestine said their actions were a response to Penn's relationship with Israel, study abroad programs, and recent faculty trips to Israel. , and “donations to the IDF,” a reference to the Israeli military. . A Penn spokesperson denied that the university makes any donations to the IDF.
“We condemn the board's support for the genocidal state of Israel, stand with the Penn administration for Palestinian students, drop disciplinary charges against pro-Palestinian demonstrators, and stand behind the genocidal state,” the group said in a statement. I ask you to pull back.” The university added that it is seeking the university's $21 billion endowment to divest from Israeli companies and other entities that support the Gaza war. It is unclear whether Mr. Penn has any investments in the country.
Friday's protests were the latest unrest since Hamas attacked Israel in October, defeating the country's top universities. The campus movement, which began as a general protest against continued Israeli retaliation in the Gaza Strip, has recently shifted its focus to university donations, with demonstrators demanding that schools divest from investments that support the war. There is.
At Brown University, about 19 students protesting the war went on a hunger strike earlier this year, demanding that the board pass a divestment resolution. The idea behind the divestment movement, which has historically also targeted fossil fuels, tobacco and apartheid in South Africa, is to promote the common good and encourage university endowments to be instruments of change.
But Penn's campus had been in turmoil since before the war, at odds over former president M. Elizabeth McGill's decision last September to allow a Palestinian literature festival to be held on campus. Mr. McGill's leadership has already come under attack, and Mr. McGill continues to be the target of criticism following the outbreak of the Gaza war, with Jewish donors, alumni and students criticizing the firm's leadership after the Hamas attack. I have doubts about the content of what is considered to be a lukewarm statement.
McGill ultimately resigned in December after his appearance on Capitol Hill, under fire over whether calls for genocide on campus were grounds for discipline. Dr. Jameson, an endocrinologist who previously served as dean of Penn Medicine, has been named interim president to replace her.
Some Jewish students at the University of Pennsylvania have spoken out against anti-Semitism on campus, including Noah, who told members of Congress on Thursday that university officials had failed to address his complaints. Including Rubin.
Penn's trustees began committee meetings Thursday, and Friday's meeting was expected to be the culmination of their work. The Rev. Charles Lattimore Howard, Penn's chaplain, began Friday's meeting with remarks focused on healing after the campus unrest.
“There is a lot of division in the world, a lot of hatred and mistrust, a lot of uncaring isolation and apathy, a lot of zero-sum perspectives,” he said, adding: . They are trying to understand, or at least humanize, the other person in some small, personal way. ”
Following the call, Dr. Jameson began his address by commenting on the excitement of the University of Pennsylvania students. “They're excited to be here. They thrive on great academics, research and work that improves the world,” he said.
But he was unable to continue, and the upbeat atmosphere quickly changed when a chant started by a group of students in the audience erupted. Ramanan Raghavedran, who was recently appointed as the managing director, made three petitions to the students to cancel the event, but to no avail.
Unable to proceed with the proceedings, the board of directors simultaneously approved approximately 20 resolutions that were scheduled for discussion and left the meeting room.
After the meeting, a university spokesperson issued a statement saying the disruption violated the school's student code of conduct and the students were facing disciplinary action.
Palestine Freedom School also held two other protests. They staged sit-ins in campus buildings last fall and held a “study-in” at Penn's library in February.