On May 1, police arrested 90 people at a pro-Palestinian protest at Dartmouth, joining a national wave of police activity at college campus encampments.
Since April 17, law enforcement have made more than 2,400 arrests on 46 college campuses across the country at protests related to the conflict in Gaza, according to the Associated Press. Prior to May 1, two students had been arrested at Dartmouth while protesting the conflict. Roan Wade ’25 and Kevin Engel ’27 were charged with criminal trespassing while denouncing the College’s investments — which Engel said benefitted from the conflict in Gaza, according to past reporting by The Dartmouth.
At Columbia University, protesters set up an encampment on April 17 which stood for 14 days. On May 1, after students occupied Hamilton Hall, a university building, police arrested more than 100 protesters, according to coverage by The New York Times.
That same day, at the University of California, Los Angeles, around 1,000 pro-Palestinian protesters clashed with 100 to 200 counter-protesters, according to reporting by the Daily Bruin, the student-run newspaper. Police made more than 100 arrests, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Some Dartmouth protesters said they were motivated to act on May 1 by the protests nationwide. Maya Beauvineau ’26 said it felt “a lot less lonely” and “a lot less risky” to protest as part of a “widespread movement,” while Solange Acosta-Rodríguez ’24 added that the growing national trend made her feel like she was “on the right side of history.”
History professor Annelise Orleck, who was arrested at the protest, also pointed to movements on other college campuses. Professors and faculty across the country had been joining student protests, which she thought was “important,” Orleck explained.
“My colleague at Columbia sat in on a Passover Seder in the middle of the encampment — she loved it,” Orleck said. “I’ve had colleagues all over the country who had been part of the encampment, and I think that’s important.”
Other students, however, believe the campus protests have “drowned out” dissenting voices, according to Alex Rockmore ’27. During the May 1 protest, Rockmore drove around the Green for about 15 minutes with an Israeli flag, while also playing music in Hebrew.
“That was a purely personal decision based on me wanting people like me — people who share my identity — to feel a little bit more seen in a conversation where often we are drowned out,” Rockmore said.
Community members also compared Dartmouth’s response to those of other institutions. Anna Timchenko ’26 said the response of other, “more relaxed” colleges — including Brown University — made Dartmouth’s protesters “too optimistic.” Timchenko, who was arrested while protesting, added that “no one expected” riot police to arrive at the scene, since national media coverage had referred to Dartmouth as a “civil” school, they explained.
While Dartmouth’s encampments were removed in a matter of hours, other universities have handled campus protests with extended negotiations. Officials at Brown agreed to vote on divestment in October 2023 in exchange for the dismantling of encampments, according to coverage by The New York Times. On April 29, Northwestern University agreed to reestablish an Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility next fall, as well as to provide assistance to visiting Palestinian faculty and students, according to CBS News.
Rockmore said he believes the College’s response to the protest was better than that of other universities.
“I think Dartmouth did a better job than other schools, absolutely,” Rockmore said. “If you look at a school like UCLA, where they let the protesters become more and more fired up by the day and build a stronger and stronger fort for themselves, and then you had an outside mob attack the encampment, then it got bulldozed by police — this is absolutely a better alternative to that.”
Anthropology professor Sergei Kan said Northwestern and Brown had “really compromised themselves” by promising to discuss divestment. Kan — who published a letter to the editor, signed by more than 50 faculty members, in support of Beilock’s response in The Dartmouth — said he found the actions of other schools “unacceptable.”
“As far as I can tell, [Beilock is] doing the right thing,” Kan said. “She’s courageous, she stands her ground [and] she believes in freedom of speech. She’s [a] progressive person, not a right-winger. But there are rules. We have to obey the rules.”
In recent weeks, university protests have reached the highest levels of U.S. policymakers. On May 2, President Joe Biden publicly said the nationwide campus protests have not caused him to reconsider his policies in the Middle East. Nonetheless, Beauvineau said the protests have been important because of their impact on public opinion concerning the conflict in Gaza.
“If [the protests aren’t] making a change specifically in terms of Biden’s policy right now, I think that [they are] making a change in terms of how Americans view this issue and being able to feel that outrage and dissent against an ongoing genocide,” Beauvineau said. “If that matters to people in Gaza, I think that matters.”
Acosta-Rodríguez emphasized that protests on college campuses shape history.
“From the Vietnam War to the ending of South African apartheid on this very campus, college actions matter,” she said. “Dartmouth has the option to make the right choice … and use this energy, passion and care that students have — not just for our community but for communities around the world — to do good.”
Alex Rockmore ’27 is a former news writer and current member of The Dartmouth’s podcast team. Rockmore was not involved in the writing or editing of this article.
