Parkhurst Hall was vandalized with pro-Palestinian graffiti on Oct. 16, according to images reviewed by The Dartmouth. Vandalism included the words “Free Palestine” and “Divest” and red spray paint on the Parkhurst steps and walls.
In an email statement to The Dartmouth, College spokesperson Jana Barnello wrote that the Hanover Police Department and Safety and Security are “investigating” the incident.
“Dartmouth prizes and defends the freedom of expression and dissent,” Barnello wrote. “Vandalism, however, is unacceptable and not protected by Dartmouth policies.”
Hanover Police Lieutenant Michael Schibuola added that the crime “will be criminal mischief.”
An anonymous email claimed credit for the vandalism. In a press statement shared with The Dartmouth, the account alleged that vandalists acted in support of “the struggle for Palestinian liberation.” In a follow-up email, the account added that the “action was not coordinated by any student groups.” The Dartmouth could not independently verify the email’s sender, who also shared two images of a vandalized Parkhurst.
“We recognize in the long history of anti-militaristic organizing in this country, that across a wide diversity of tactics, one tenet remained constant: that disruption at ever[y] level is necessary to bring the machine to a halt,” the account wrote.
The incident also responded to the “arrests [of] peaceful protestors,” the account claimed. On May 1, police arrested 89 individuals at a pro-Palestinian protest on the College Green. In October 2023, Hanover Police officers arrested two students — Roan Wade ’25 and Kevin Engel ’27 — on criminal trespassing charges. Engel and Wade had been encamped on the front lawn of Parkhurst to protest for “divesting the College’s endowment from all organizations that are complicit in apartheid and its apparatuses,” among other aims.
Safety and Security director Keysi Montás declined to comment.
