Swarthmore students renewed their pro-Palestinian protests with a fresh encampment and specific demands

Nearly a year after members of Swarthmore College’s pro-Palestinian encampment voluntarily ended the last standing college protest encampment in the Philadelphia region, a new group of students has set up another encampment to continue and evolve their cause.

Just after noon Wednesday, Swarthmore students set up an enclosure of signs and tents on Trotter Lawn to protest the ongoing war in Gaza, what they contend is the college’s unwillingness to commit to divesting from entities profiting off the war, and what they say is the college’s lukewarm support for students who are vulnerable to the Trump administration’s aggressive deportations, revoked student visas, and sudden abductions.

About 30 students, most wearing medical face masks and keffiyehs, spent the afternoon between chanting their support for and solidarity with Palestinians, buoyed by a drum line and megaphones and the occasional dig at Swarthmore administration, and in quieter peer-led political education classes.

» READ MORE: Swarthmore College’s pro-Palestinian encampment disbands after 4 weeks and stalled negotiations

In a letter handed out to the encampment members Wednesday, Stephanie Ives, vice president for student affairs, stated that the students were in violation of Swarthmore’s code of conduct for camping on college property without permission, not for the content of their speech. Ives also said she was concerned about students collaborating with non-Swarthmore organizations on the protest.

“This current protest strategy will not result in dialogue with the College about your demands,” she wrote.

Swarthmore College president Val Smith echoed Ives’ concern about “non-community members” joining in the protest, saying in a statement that it has resulted in “unknown and unrecognizable people coming to campus.”

“These actions put many of the most vulnerable members of our community at serious risk,” Smith said. “In an abundance of caution and for the safety of the community, we restricted vehicle access to campus and urged people to avoid the area.”

One major difference from last year’s encampment is that this iteration has more specific demands, organizers said. For example, instead of a broad divestment demand, the encampment members have called for Swarthmore to divest from the tech company Cisco, which powers WiFi and other systems on campus, because of its contracts with the Israeli government. Other demands call for specific ways for the college to materially back students at risk for deportation.

“We want divestment from Cisco because this is a tech company that is used to surveil Palestinians,” said Ash, an encampment spokesperson who declined to give their last name out of privacy concerns.

“Dropping Cisco is our primary goal, but it is the start of a bigger campaign to entirely divest,” said Jamal, another encampment spokesperson who also declined to give his last name out of privacy concerns, about Swarthmore’s other investments in companies that may be profiting from the war.

“Gaza is still and will always be our main focus, but … our premise is to look out for people that are vulnerable and that are experiencing state violence, whether that be in Gaza or here, and we see that as very clearly connected,” Jamal said about their demands to more strongly protect students from deportation.

» READ MORE: What is divestment? And why do students want it?

The encampment members, several of whom were present last year, said they were motivated to restart an encampment after seeing recent successful protests by their peers at other colleges, including the University of San Francisco.

Jamal said the students have talked about the Trump administration’s crackdown on campus protests against the war in Gaza, especially since Swarthmore is one of the 60 schools that the administration says it is investigating for purported antisemitic conduct. But the danger they may face has not dimmed their resolve.

“Every time we have that conversation, we always come back to why we’re here, why we’re doing this, and I would say that all of us are very, very firmly grounded in knowing what‘s happening and what Israel is doing to the Palestinian people,” he said.

While this encampment is new, Swarthmore students have continued pro-Palestinian demonstrations this year. In February, members of the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) occupied an administrative building for 11 hours to protest disciplinary charges the college brought against students involved in last year’s encampment and Swarthmore’s refusal to divest. The college suspended SJP on campus afterward.

It was unclear how long the encampment protesters planned to remain on Trotter Lawn. Ives’ Wednesday letter demanded that the students disperse by 4 p.m., but the students continued to chant and remain in place well past the deadline and were still on Trotter Lawn as of Thursday afternoon.

Smith said that students were told verbally and in writing to leave Trotter Lawn, and that the school is working to issue interim suspensions to students who stayed at the encampment after receiving the warning.

“We are considering all options to bring this event to a peaceful end,” Smith said.

Staff writer Susan Snyder contributed to this article.