Whitman College students chant to 'shut down the college' for lack of divestment

Anti-Israel students in Washington recently protested a board of trustees meeting with chants to “shut down the college” over the lack of divestment it has authorized against Israel.

On Thursday, approximately 50 students at Whitman College hosted a “die-in” protest against the board’s meeting at Memorial Hall, as reported by The Whitman Wire.

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After reportedly walking out of classes at 11 a.m., the students gathered at Ankeny Field to chant, “What do want? Divestment. When do we want it? Now. What will we do if we don’t get it? Shut the college down!” By the time the students reached Memorial Hall, about 75 students were said to have participated in the demonstration.

A day before the students’ protest, an email was sent to university members indicating that the board meeting was to be relocated to a site about an hour from campus for the purpose of “avoiding disruption,” according to The Whitman Wire.

The “die-in” demonstration was led by the college’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter.

”During this morning die-in in front of the bus, Whitman Security made sure to ‘protect’ the Board of Trustees members only, despite the peaceful nature of student protesters,” the SJP chapter said in a statement to The Whitman Wire. 

”Yet, when students staged a die-in in front of Memorial Hall, Whitman Security wasn’t around,” the group continued. “Community members slowed their cars, one even got out of the vehicle, presenting a clear danger to students. In light of an incoming Trump Presidency, which has promised to clamp down on student activism, and threatens minority students, Whitman College must protect its students with more than words.”

The SJP chapter also claimed that a new Trump administration “only reinvigorates concerns about reactionary violence against all students.”

”The Board’s refusal to engage with students – going so far as to remove themselves from Walla Walla – is yet another reminder of the incommensurability between students and those charged with representing us,” the group added. “It is clear that Whitman will ‘protect’ the BOT from its own students, which are protesting peacefully, before protecting students facing the threat of fascism on the ground.”

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The SJP group promoted the protest in an Instagram post on Wednesday, writing: “Board of Trustees you can’t hide. We charge you with GENOCIDE.” The group also promoted an “SJP Cookout” for after the “die-in” demonstration.

According to its Instagram account, the Whitman College SJP chapter operates “in solidarity with Palestinians to educate against Israeli settler-colonialism.”