Final Dartmouth students drop hunger strike meant to force school to cut ties with Israel and Starbucks: 'My life was literally at risk'
The last two Dartmouth College students participating in a hunger strike have called it quits after 11 days.
The last two Dartmouth College students participating in a hunger strike have called it quits after 11 days.
As Campus Reform previously reported, the hunger strike was intended to force the school to cut ties with Israel and call for a ceasefire.
The Dartmouth reported that the remaining two out of eight students doing the hunger strike, Roan Wade and Paul Yang, agreed to resume eating after they reached an agreement with the institution on March 1.
A campus email from Dean of the College Scott Brown states that Josh Keniston, chair of the Advisor Committee on Investor Responsibility for the Dartmouth Board of Trustees, will “meet termly over the course of the year with the Dartmouth New Deal Coalition” and discuss the process for submitting a divestment proposal.
The Dartmouth New Deal calls on the college to end its contract with Starbucks and take a number of radical changes, which includes cutting ties “with Apartheid and war.”
The document, authored in November 2023, calls for Dartmouth College to end “College-sponsored alumni and birthright trips to Israel,” re-evaluating Dartmouth’s academic exchange with Israeli universities including the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, divest from defense contractors that the “Israeli war machine,” and “broad divestment from companies which support Israeli apartheid.”
The Dartmouth New Deal also calls on the institution to “take steps toward achieving climate justice,” which includes funding “rent-controlled” housing on and off campus, as well as providing stipends to “working-class and marginalized students and community members to build climate resilience,” as Campus Reform previously reported.
”Cover housing, food, and emergency costs with financial aid for students living on or near campus during off-terms,” another demand from the Dartmouth New Deal states. “Guarantee housing security, food security, and all privileges afforded to students taking leave terms.”
If the college doesn’t address and provide a timeline for implementing the Dartmouth New Deal, its authors wrote that “physical [non-violent] action” will be needed.
Wade, who participated in the hunger strike, told The Dartmouth that they continued the hunger strike despite warnings from doctors that their lives could be at risk.
“It wasn’t until my life was literally at risk that we finally got the bare minimum concessions from the College,” Wade said.
“We don’t plan on stopping until we get divestment,” Wade said. “This will be an ongoing struggle.”