Last Thursday, organizers of the pro-Palestinian encampment at Indiana University’s Dunn Meadow began dismantling their “Liberated Zone” in response to a new university policy and warnings from campus police, according to the Bloomington Herald-Times. The policy, which took effect that day, prohibits unauthorized structures and overnight camping on university grounds.
The end of the IU Dunn Meadow protest encampment will arrive in the coming days. Once heroic, it’s now no sensible person’s idea of a tribute to free speech. Previous admins would have had the will and skill to negotiate a peaceful end. No one thinks the current admin does. pic.twitter.com/Sf2Z9NcfOo
— Steve Sanders (@SteveSSanders) August 1, 2024
This policy change followed the Indiana University Board of Trustees decision, which went into effect last Wednesday. The policy establishes protest restrictions, including a ban on unauthorized camping, across all nine IU campuses.
The encampment, which had been in place for 98 days, was part of a nationwide movement of solidarity camps at universities aimed at supporting the terrorist group Hamas following its October 7, 2023 atrocities against Israeli civilians.
Major Police presence headed into campus at Indiana University. In Dunn Meadow today Jewish students draped in Israeli flags demanded Hamas release hostages while pro-Palestinian supporters called on Israel to end bombing in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/ul4IZA10My
— Angela Ganote (@angelaganote) April 25, 2024
Indiana University Police Department (IUPD) officers and members of the university’s Demonstration Response and Safety Team (DRST) visited the site Thursday morning to inform the organizers about the new policy and warned that tents would be forcibly removed if not voluntarily taken down.
The organizers told the Herald-Times they said they would comply by removing personal belongings from the camp. However, they stated their intention to remain in Dunn Meadow until the university formally shuts down their demonstration.
According to a statement from Indiana University police, the encampment was finally cleared around 4 AM on Friday. The department noted, “Over several days, officials communicated verbal and written expectations to individuals in Dunn Meadow before the property was removed. The abandoned property was removed without any individuals present.”
Bryce Greene, a spokesperson for the Indiana University Divestment Coalition and a third-year Ph.D. student in informatics told Inside Higher Ed, “Our encampment has officially come down, but our organizing capacity has never been stronger.”
We expect it hasn’t.
Wait, what? Ph.D. in informatics? I looked it up. Informatics is the study of the structure, behavior, and interactions of natural and engineered computational systems. She should be done with her Ph.D. by 2025, unless she goes Hamas again.
