To the Campus Community:
As I have noted in previous messages in Carleton Today, the College places great value on free speech and the ability of students and other community members to express their views. To that end, we have tried over the past several weeks to create conditions that would allow ongoing student protests related to the war in Gaza to be safe and constructive.
Our strategy throughout has been to create clear boundaries, and to try to prevent the need for confrontations that might lead to college discipline or other consequences. We have not removed students from the encampment that has now entered its second week.
I have personally met with and heard the concerns of members of the Carleton Students for Justice in Palestine multiple times over the course of this academic year, including as recently as Tuesday, when I and VP Dina Zavala visited the encampment and met with SJP leaders. I also held a meeting for SJP leaders with several trustees and the College’s chief investment officer that took place last week. These meetings were freely offered in good faith, not as part of a negotiation, and felt like cordial and informative discussions.
In learning of an anticipated SJP occupation of Laird Hall today, we closed the building and relocated classes to allow our academic work to continue uninterrupted, and to try to reduce the likelihood of a situation in which students would face disciplinary action. The door was locked and students were informed that entering would be a violation of community standards and subject to disciplinary action. Unfortunately, a college employee chose to let several dozen students into the building. Those students were informed by VP Carolyn Livingston that they would face College sanctions, starting with disciplinary probation, if they failed to vacate the building by 5 p.m. While the majority left, a dozen students chose to remain.
An overnight student presence in a nonresidential building is a violation of fire codes and building safety standards, as well as an impediment to the overall functioning of the College, particularly at a time of year and on a weekend with many other events and functions occurring. Our most sincere hope has been that students would safely and effectively share their voices without an escalated response that could put themselves or others at risk. The Dean of Students Office will now work through our disciplinary processes with the students remaining in Laird.
President Alison Byerly