UPDATE: Case Western Reserve University students have ended their encampment. Virtually nothing is left except the silhouettes of their tents in the grass. Campus is being cleaned up under the watch of multiple campus police and University Circle Police. Read the latest.
Case Western Reserve University President Eric Kaler said next week’s graduation festivities will go on as planned even as student protestors’ pro-Palestinian encampment remains.
Noting that protesters have disrupted other graduation ceremonies around the country, he said Case Western Reserve is taking steps to head off possible problems.
“To avoid such interruptions and ensure our celebrations are centered on our graduates, we will be implementing a variety of safety and security measures, which [we] will share with the community soon,” Kaler wrote.
The university has a full agenda of activities planned beginning on Wednesday. Its main undergraduate diploma ceremonies are slated for Sunday, May 19.
Some administration officials work remotely after demonstrators camp overnight in front of Adelbert Hall
In addition to graduation updates, Kaler also used his latest letter to call out protestors’ recent actions. On Wednesday night, they marched from their encampment site in front of a university library to Adelbert Hall. The historic building is home to several administrative offices – including Kaler’s.
There, protestors pasted signs all over the building’s facade, which remained and, according to the president, 10 protestors camped out there overnight. As a result, Kaler said employees who typically work in that hall were working remotely on Thursday.
“In recent days, we have seen an influx of escalated activities that violate—in some cases continually—our freedom of expression policy, among others,” he said.
Tensions rise after contractor spray paints demonstrators obstructing ‘spirit wall’
Thursday’s email is the sixth note Kaler has sent over the past week as tensions between protestors and the administration continue to rise.
Earlier this week, the president apologized for several student protestors getting spray painted by a third-party contractor as university police watched. Those painters were called in to cover up protestors’ messaging on a “spirit wall” that typically encourages art from students.
No arrests yet at Case Western Reserve
Thursday’s note went on to reiterate one of Kaler’s earlier messages: Protestors will face consequences.
“As I have previously noted, any individual violating university policy will be held accountable through legal action and/or the appropriate conduct process,” his email said in bold letters. “For students, this could include interim suspension, expulsion or removal of degree conferral. Those who continue to illegally trespass and vandalize university property will be subject to criminal charges.”
Kaler made that same warning exactly a week ago. But nothing has happened since then. The encampment continues to grow.
Graduating senior Jad Kamhawi Oglesby, vice president of Students for Justice in Palestine, 22, remains critical of the Kaler and his messages to the community.
“Every time he sends an email, it’s just a reminder of how disconnected he actually is from the student body,” he said. “But he had so many opportunities to interact with us to figure out what’s going on, but he decided to remain in his ivory tower, disconnected from his student population, and just really just honestly fostered this unstable environment.”
But Oglesby said he was not aware of plans to disrupt graduation.
“I personally do not plan on potentially ruining my own commencement,” he told Signal Cleveland. “However, if other students wanted to organize a moment for commencement, I’d be welcome to see that.”
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