Re: Two protesters arrested at campus event with US Sen. John Fetterman
As members of Dartmouth Alumni for Palestine, we condemn the Hanover Police Department for arresting Greyson Xiao ’25 and College staff member Emma Herndon at an event with Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa. We also condemn the College and its administration for encouraging the officers to intervene, as reported by the Valley News. These arrests are a continuation of the criminalization of pro-Palestinian protesters and an assault on dissent.
As protesters, Xiao and Herndon draw from Dartmouth’s rich history of community protest. From students petitioning in 1824 to admit Edward Mitchell — the College’s first Black student — to the anti-ROTC sit-in in 1969 to the 1986 Shantytown anti-apartheid protests, activism has played a crucial role in pointing out the College’s hypocrisy. We praise the arrestees and welcome their contributions to the College’s legacy of dissent. Through their actions, they reject Fetterman’s unconditional support for Israel, as well as his endorsement of continued U.S. complicity in Israel’s genocidal acts in Gaza.
Under previous administrations, the College has responded to protest by canceling classes and holding teach-ins to address campus tensions. Under this administration, to the contrary, we have seen the criminalization of dissenters. The arrests of pro-Palestinian protesters since October 2023 exemplify a shift on college campuses nationwide — including at Dartmouth under the Beilock administration — toward criminalizing protests, chilling free speech and undermining the values of academic and intellectual freedom. Outside of protests, Dartmouth abruptly postponed an OB-GYN’s on-campus lecture about healthcare in Gaza, only holding the event months later over Zoom.
These recent arrests continue a pattern from October 2023 and May 1 of one-sided suppression and criminalization of those who speak out against Israel’s genocidal acts, as recognized by the University Network for Human Rights and people worldwide. As members of DAP, we denounce these arrests. We demand that College leadership request that the State drop any charges against Xiao and Herndon and refrain from proceeding with disciplinary actions. Anything less violates the College’s commitment to freedom of speech and academic expression.
Justice is not optional, and we will not be silenced.
Deborah Jung ’24 and Sheen Kim ’23 are members of Dartmouth Alumni for Palestine. Letters to the editor represent the views of their author(s), which are not necessarily those of The Dartmouth.
