The Lebanon District Court has found Kevin Engel ’27 and Roan Wade ’25 — two student protesters arrested in the fall of 2023 — guilty of one count of misdemeanor criminal trespass each. The two were arrested on the Parkhurst Hall lawn on Oct. 28, 2023, after setting up an encampment to protest Dartmouth’s investment in organizations “complicit with apartheid and its apparatuses,” among other aims listed in the Dartmouth New Deal.
Under New Hampshire state law, the maximum punishment for a Class B misdemeanor is a fine of up to $1,200 and probation but does not include the possibility of jail time. Engel and Wade are scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 11, according to a spokesperson from the New Hampshire Court Information Center.
In a verdict issued on Jan. 14, District Court Judge Michael Mace wrote that the State had “proved beyond reasonable doubt” that Wade and Engel “knew they lacked the requisite permit” and were not “otherwise privileged” to encamp in front of Parkhurst.
“[Safety and Security director Keysi Montás] had the authority to order them to leave that particular location,” Mace wrote. “Mr. Montás communicated an order to leave to Kevin and Rowan [sic] personally, and Kevin and Rowan [sic] defied the order to leave.”
In an interview with The Dartmouth, Wade said they believe the verdict — which was reached on Jan. 10 — “sets a very dangerous precedent” that will “have a lot of implications on the future of student movements.” The College has been “very quick to call law enforcement” during campus protests, rather than follow “institutional channels for dealing with student misconduct,” Wade alleged.
“Because of that, it does make it extremely dangerous for international students and for undocumented students to feel that they can engage in protest and free speech,” Wade said.
Engel previously told The Dartmouth in January 2024 that they and Wade were placed on disciplinary probation by the College for violating Dartmouth’s encampment policies. That College verdict stemmed from an administrative hearing on Nov. 10, 2023, a little more than a week after the pair’s protest, according to past reporting by The Dartmouth.
Engel did not respond to multiple requests for comment by time of publication.
College spokesperson Jana Barnello declined to comment on the Court’s January 2025 verdict but wrote in an email statement to The Dartmouth that the College will “continue to offer the students our support.”
“It’s not our role to comment on the outcome of a judicial process to which we are not a party,” Barnello wrote.
Defense counsel Kira Kelley declined to comment directly on the verdict but said they believe “the most important update right now” is the six-week ceasefire and hostage deal reached by negotiators from Israel and Hamas, which was announced on Wednesday.
“That’s what we’re focusing on right now in our hearts as we think about this verdict,” Kelley added.
Engel and Wade previously pleaded not guilty to their charges in their Dec. 18, 2023 arraignment. Multiple individuals — including College President Sian Leah Beilock, Montás, Hanover Police lieutenant Mike Schibuola, Hanover Police sergeant Matt Ufford and Engel — were called to testify in the pair’s trial, which began last February and concluded in October. Beilock testified on the last day of the trial, stating that College administrators decided to call the Hanover Police Department for assistance because the protesters had given them a document — the Dartmouth New Deal — that “threatened physical action and escalation.”
In an Oct. 31, 2023 guest column published in The Dartmouth, Engel and Wade wrote that they believed the phrase “physical action” was “not synonymous with violence.”
“We clarify that physical action encompasses a wide array of nonviolent civil disobedience, from sit-ins during the Civil Rights movement to the shantytown students constructed to highlight Dartmouth’s investment in South African Apartheid,” they wrote.
Engel previously told The Dartmouth in January 2024 that the two were not found in violation of any College policies regarding violence during their Nov. 10, 2023 administrative hearing.
Prosecutor Mariana Pastore did not respond to a request for comment by time of publication.
Kelsey Wang is a reporter and editor for The Dartmouth from the greater Seattle area, majoring in history and government. Outside of The D, she likes to crochet, do jigsaw puzzles and paint.
