Bowdoin College disciplines SJP students after pro-Palestine encampment violates policies
A Justice in Palestine chapter recently hosted an encampment at Bowdoin College, for which various protesters were immediately disciplined, with some receiving suspensions.
The SJP group posted to Instagram on Monday following the announcement of the suspensions, condemning the school and blaming it for the 'weaponization of a disciplinary process.'
The anti-Israel student group, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), recently hosted a pro-Palestine encampment at Bowdoin College in Maine, for which various protesters were immediately disciplined, with some receiving suspensions.
Members of the school’s SJP group started the protest on Thursday at around 10:00 p.m., setting up tents in the student union, according to The Washington Free Beacon. Around three hours later, Bowdoin security took down their names and IDs, reportedly warning the demonstrators that they were “on a path to no longer be Bowdoin students.”
When the security personnel took the students’ information, the activists chanted, “The more you silence us, the louder we will be,” according to The Bowdoin Orient.
Bowdoin security ultimately had to post notices that the student union had to be closed for the day.
The school administration stated on Friday that the students’ refusal to promptly end the demonstration would lead to the opening of the school’s disciplinary process, according to The Algemeiner.
Bowdoin Director of Communications Doug Cook told Campus Reform in a statement that the pro-Palestine protesters violated school policies and that, while the university supports free speech, open dialogue must be predicated on “mutual respect.”
“The encampment in Smith Union has ended, with all students leaving voluntarily,” Cook explained. “The demonstration repeatedly violated policies within Bowdoin’s Code of Community Standards and the participating students have entered the College’s disciplinary process.”
“Bowdoin is a place where free speech and academic freedom are highly valued and encouraged, and all are expected to abide by our policies,” Cook concluded. “We are committed to fostering open dialogues on difficult issues in a manner that is founded on mutual respect and support.”
The encampment finally ended on Monday, as noted by The Portland Press Herald. The school issued suspensions that same day to eight student activists, in accordance with the warning it had given on Friday.
Bowdoin’s SJP group posted to Instagram on Monday following the announcement of the suspensions, condemning the school and blaming it for the “weaponization of a disciplinary process.”
“In response to Bowdoin’s egregious announcement of suspension this morning, a new group of courageous students joined the encampment just 45 minutes before suspensions went into effect,” the group stated. “We will not stand idly by as Bowdoin targets and threatens our classmates.”
“We are enraged by the weaponization of a disciplinary process against members of this community who have exhausted every other means of advocacy,” the SJP chapter continued.
