PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Protesters packed up and left a pro-Palestinian camp at Drexel University on Thursday after the university announced it had decided to have police clear the camp.
University President John Fry said in a statement that he decided to deploy campus police and public safety officials along with Philadelphia police to clear the camp as peacefully as possible. News outlets reported that police gave protesters a warning to vacate the camp, after which the protesters left.
Fry said the university is committed to protecting the rights of community members to peaceful assembly and free expression, but he personally has the responsibility and authority to regulate gatherings on campus to ensure safety and fulfill the mandate to educate students.
“An unauthorized encampment involving a large number of people with no affiliation to Drexel and unauthorized entry onto our campus is illegal,” Fry said. “The language and chants of this demonstration, underscored by the protesters’ disgusting ‘demands,’ must end now.”
Protesters were gathering their belongings as dozens of police officers on bicycles arrived around 5:20 a.m. In less than half an hour, only a few items remained on the Korman Family Quad, where the 35-tent encampment had been located, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
“The campers mostly packed up their things and left voluntarily,” said Philadelphia Police Sergeant Eric Gripp.
In a statement posted online early Thursday, protest organizers said they had initiated a “strategic retreat” to ensure “the safe withdrawal of all people and resources from the liberated zone.” They said neither city nor campus police had issued a request to evacuate the camp, but “we warned ourselves.”
Organizers also said, “We succeeded in our goal of disrupting the situation – a university-wide lockdown imposed by cowardly leadership and excessive police presence drained the university’s resources for six days.” The group also vowed to remain busy, writing, “We will not retreat, we will return, and we will return stronger.”
The camp remained despite Fry threatening to have it cleared earlier in the week. Fry said Tuesday that classes would be held virtually for the third time on Wednesday after the administration tried to establish a line of communication with the protesters but was rebuffed. News outlets reported that the university announced Wednesday evening that the campus would return to normal operations on Thursday.
In his statement early Thursday, Fry said previous requests for protesters to disperse had been ignored, but he still urged Drexel members to leave the encampment so police could “escort any remaining intruders from our campus.”
A wave of pro-Palestinian encampments on university campuses has led to more than 3,000 arrests across the country.
Harvard University held its graduation ceremony on Thursday after weeks of pro-Palestinian protests. Hundreds of students in graduation robes left the event chanting “Free, free Palestine” – a day after the university announced that 13 Harvard students who took part in a protest camp would not be able to receive their diplomas alongside their fellow students.
Also on Thursday, the leaders of Northwestern University and Rutgers University testified before the House Education and Workforce Committee, where they defended their decision to end the pro-Palestinian camps through negotiations rather than police force. The university leaders told committee members that they were able to defuse any threat without conceding ground to protesters.
Northwestern University President Michael Schill and Rutgers University’s Jonathan Holloway were called to testify before the committee as part of a series of Republican-led hearings examining how colleges have responded to allegations of anti-Semitism. Also testifying was Gene Block, chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles, which has come under fire for its delayed police response to violence between pro-Palestinian protesters and counter-protesters.
A novel pro-Palestinian camp has emerged on UCLA’s campus, Bock testified Thursday. “Our security personnel are on site and actively monitoring the situation,” Mary Osako, UCLA’s vice chancellor for strategic communications, said in a statement.
