The Tufts Daily THE
INDEPENDENT
STUDENT
NEWSPAPER
OF
TUFTS
UNIVERSITY
E S T. 1 9 8 0 Medford/Somerville, Mass.
Thursday, March 7, 2024
VOLUME LXXXVII, ISSUE 7
UNIVERSITY
TCU Senate calls on university to divest from Israel Matthew Sage, Rachel Liu & Julieta Grané
Executive News Editor, Editor in Chief, Managing Editor
Originally published March 4. In the early hours of Monday, the Tufts Community Union Senate voted to approve three out of four resolutions formally calling on University President Sunil Kumar to recognize genocide in Gaza, for the university to divest from Israeli companies and for it to cease selling Sabra products in dining halls. It did not, however, pass a resolution calling on the university to end approval for study abroad programs at universities in Israel. Even before the 7:45 p.m. Sunday start time, a crowd formed in front of the open meeting room in the Joyce Cummings Center. With a turnout of approximately 310 attendees, who spoke both in favor and against the resolutions, deliberations lasted 4 ½ hours before the Senate voted anonymously in a closed session,
releasing the results shortly after 3 a.m. Monday. “We’re disappointed that a majority voted to pass three of the resolutions,” Patrick Collins, Tufts’ executive director of media relations, wrote in an statement to the Daily. “To be clear, as we have done in the past, we reject the boycott, divest, and sanction movement; we wholeheartedly support academic freedom and all our academic, exchange, and affiliated study abroad programs; and we will continue to work with all companies that we engage with and do business with now.” The Coalition for Palestinian Liberation proposed the original resolution texts. S. 24-1 demanded that the Global Education office end approval for study abroad programs at universities in Israel. To approve a resolution, the Senate must reach a simple majority. The voting ended in a tie with 16 senators in support, 16 against and three abstaining. see RESOLUTION, page 3
UNIVERSITY
Students protest Kumar’s condemnation of TCU Senate resolutions
Matthew Sage
Executive News Editor
Originally published March 6. In an email sent to the wider Tufts community on Monday, University President Sunil Kumar condemned the three recently passed Tufts Community Union Senate resolutions that called on the university to cut ties to Israel and to acknowledge the Palestinian genocide in Gaza. Sent less than 12 hours after the Senate announced results around 3 a.m., Kumar’s email sparked a student protest and die-in at Barnum Hall on Tuesday. Kumar, and other senior leadership who signed the email, stated that despite the several hourslong deliberations which show “how our campus reflects the deep division in society on these issues,” they are “disappointed” that a majority of TCU senators voted to approve the resolutions. They reaffirmed the university’s stance against the global movement to end support for Israel, stating that the university sup-
MATTHEW SAGE / THE TUFTS DAILY
Over 150 protesters gathered on a rainy, overcast day at the protest on March 5. ports all of its study abroad programs and will not halt current business relationships. “The immense loss of life in Gaza is tragic. We mourn with the Palestinians, but we also feel for the Israelis grieving over those they have lost and share their desire for the safe return of the hostages. It is also possible for us to be supportive of both the right of Israel to exist and for the self-determination rights of the Palestinian people,”
administrators wrote. “However, these resolutions do not allow for these views to coexist and, as a result, force our community into opposing groups rather than uniting us to build from areas of agreement.” Kumar wrote that the university will investigate reports of antisemitic and Islamophobic conduct from Sunday’s Senate meetings, where students both see PROTEST, page 2
INVESTIGATIVE
Students allege police aggression at Nov. 17 protest for Palestine Estelle Anderson
Executive Investigative Editor
Student demonstrators held a protest at Ballou Hall in support of Palestine on Nov. 17, 2023, demanding that Tufts end its ties to Israeli institutions and denounce Israel’s assault on Gaza. In the weeks following the protest, 18 students received disciplinary violations, one student had their study abroad privileges revoked and Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine publicly alleged on Instagram that Tufts University Police Department officers had engaged in physical and verbal harassment against students. In a month-long investigation, the Daily interviewed student protesters, solicited statements from TUPD and reviewed video evidence and eyewitness accounts in an effort to understand what exactly happened during the demonstration. The Daily corroborated many of the protesters’ claims that officers used physical force and verbal
intimidation in a way that made students feel unsafe. Student protesters whom the Daily interviewed requested anonymity due to fears of university retaliation. “A really bad, bad experience”: Student demonstrators recount the protest Protesters arrived at Ballou at approximately 7:00 a.m. on Nov. 17. They proceeded to gather at the front, side and back entrances of the building, blocking the doors, which is a violation of Tufts policy. Approximately 50 students were in attendance, holding up signs, participating in chants and forming picket lines. Also at the scene were legal observers from the National Lawyers Guild, trained volunteers who monitor police officers’ behavior at protests. The legal observers were dismissed by officers at around 8:30 a.m. after being told that they could not be on Tufts’ campus because it was private property. According to protesters, interactions between protesters and the
TUPD officers at the scene quickly grew tense. Videos reviewed by the Daily show several officers threatening protesters with the possibility of being arrested. In one video publicly posted on SJP’s Instagram, a TUPD officer physically presses up against a student and demands, “What would you like to be arrested for: assaulting an officer or resisting?” In another video obtained by the Daily, officers threaten to arrest and charge students blocking the door with “felony kidnapping,” claiming that they were “holding people hostage inside of the building.” The Daily reviewed videos in which protesters repeatedly tell officers that they will let people out of the building. According to Tufts’ Chief of Police Yolanda Smith, no students were ultimately arrested or charged with a crime following the protest. At around 9:15 a.m., officers called in maintenance staff to set up a barricade around the front and side entrances. Smith said that this was meant to limit the number
of students blocking the doors. “They got increasingly aggressive,” one protester recounted. “They put up these barriers and they’re like, ‘nobody can cross the barriers.’ They’re filming all of us, getting all in our faces.” Protesters sitting in front of the doors were sectioned off inside the barricaded area, while a crowd of students remained outside. Several protesters whom the Daily interviewed also claimed that officers repeatedly stated that there was a “medical emergency” inside of Ballou, despite no ambulances or medical response ever arriving at the scene. In a statement to the Daily, Smith claimed, “We have no information suggesting that officers said there was a medical emergency inside Ballou.” Protesters also allege that officers engaged in excessive physical aggression against students. In one video posted publicly on SJP’s Instagram, an officer repeatedly pushes his knee into the backs of two students sitting in front of the door, attempting
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to break them apart. According to one protester, ”[The students] had to switch at some point because the kicking had gotten so bad that one of the protesters couldn’t take it anymore.” “The scariest part was being threatened with a felony and … just having the cop physically assault and put their hands on us and try to rip our hands apart and step over us and dig their knee into our backs,” another protester recounted. “I think generally they were not afraid to touch students,” another protester said. “They were not afraid to use their bodies to prevent people from violating what they’ve set up as a boundary.” Protesters allege that one officer pinched the abdomen of a student attempting to join the protesters within the barricade. The Daily was unable to independently verify this claim. When shown the publicly posted videos, Smith did not directsee POLICE, page 2
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