Wesleyan disciplines students who took part in anti-Israel protest
The students ‘understood that they were in violation of the university's rules,’ according to school administrators, and could be permanently expelled.
Wesleyan’s president, Michael Roth, previously defended the protesters, and said he is ‘proud’ of them ‘Even if they did violate some of our rules.’
Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut recently disciplined several students for their involvement in an anti-Israel protest.
Eight students total have to spend a year in disciplinary probation for their role in the protest, and could even be kicked off of campus permanently, according to The Middletown Press. The students were part of a larger group that took over an office at Wesleyan on Sept. 20 to pressure university leadership into cutting off certain connections with Israel.
Wesleyan administrators said at the time of the protest that the activists “understood that they were in violation of the university’s rules,” and that they “refused to comply with reasonable time and place restrictions on their protest.”
“We were thinking of the Palestinians in Gaza who have been subjected to genocide … and the recent invasion of the West Bank and now the bombing of Lebanon,” said Rowan Roudebush, one of the protesters.
The protesters called on university leadership to vote for a proposal to divest from Israel.
“The proposal stated they should act on ethical concerns of having endowment money in companies that are facilitating the Israeli occupation,” Roudebush said.
This is not the first time that Wesleyan has made headlines for anti-Israel conduct.
Campus Reform reported in September that Wesleyan’s president, Michael Roth, said he is “proud” of anti-Israel student protesters “Even if they did violate some of our rules,” calling their behavior a “victory.” He also condemned the Israeli government, calling it “blind, or stupid, or self-interested.” Roth also defended the anti-Israel slogan “from the river to the sea,” which many have condemned as a genocidal call against the Jewish people.
Campus Reform has contacted Wesleyan University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
