Wesleyan University was accused of surrendering to pro-Palestinian demonstrators after striking a deal in which the administration agreed to consider Israeli divestment and fund Palestinian scholarships in exchange for students behaving during graduation.
Wesleyan President Michael Roth said the protesters agreed to have their encampment cleared by Monday and refrain from protesting during the May 23-26 Commencement + Reunion Weekend in Middletown, Connecticut.
“The protesters agreed not to disrupt Reunion and Commencement events,” said Mr. Roth in a Saturday message. “Individuals who refuse to comply will be suspended and face legal action.”
But Wesleyan Students for Justice in Palestine disputed his statement, saying that there was no agreement not to protest during graduation.
“President Michael Roth’s claim that we agreed to not disrupt Reunion and Commencement is a lie,” the Wesleyan SJP told The Washington Times. “There is no language in our agreement preventing protests this weekend, and we would never compromise our right to protest Israel’s genocide of Palestinians.”
The group added: “We expect that all students who protest for Palestine during commencement be held to the same standard as any other peaceful action.”
The chapter did receive a boatload of concessions, including the waiving of punishment for students who put up the encampment and chalked messages on university walls.
In its memo, the university also agreed that the Committee for Investor Responsibility would advise the Investment Committee “about investments that should either be divested from in a reasonable timeframe or placed off-limits to the university’s endowment.”
In addition, Wesleyan said it would disclose its investments “related to the military industrial complex and/or the conflict in Palestine-Israel.” The memo said that 0.4% of the endowment is invested in Israeli companies, all of them software firms, and 1.7% is invested in “Aerospace & Defense businesses,” but none is directly involved in weapons manufacturing.
Wesleyan will also convene in the fall a “community consultation process” about study abroad and academic partnerships, specifically citing partnerships with Israel.
There were goodies for individual Palestinians. Wesleyan said it would seek to bring in “displaced” Palestinian scholars and provide scholarships to a “cohort of displaced Palestinian students who are interested in studying at Wesleyan.”
Encampment ends @wesleyan_u: “I have hopes that the political energies recently displayed by our students will play a positive role in addressing the momentous questions before this country in the coming elections.” https://t.co/XOqWatqT3B
— Michael S Roth (@mroth78) May 18, 2024
A Wesleyan protest organizer told the Connecticut Post that most of the encampment had been dismantled by noon Monday.
“This agreement is a historic win for Wesleyan,” said Rowan Roudebush, a student. “We’ve been mobilizing and organizing students for years. Not all our demands are met yet, but we’re set up incredibly well … to bring about complete divestment and academic boycott of Israel as soon as possible.”
On the other side was Cornell Law School Professor William Jacobson, who said that Wesleyan may be added to the list of “weak universities and leaders who have capitulated to demands of anti-Israel encampment protesters.”
The encampment at one point had an estimated 100 inhabitants.
“The Wesleyan President and administration rightly are seen as giving in to extortion in order to preserve peace at reunions and commencement,” said Mr. Jacobson on his Legal Insurrection blog. “In so doing, they have dangled the possibility of the university entering into some form of divestment or academic boycott of Israel in front of students.”
He added: “Even if Wesleyan ultimately rejects these measures, it has done tremendous damage.”
.@wesleyan_u capitulated to anti-Israel mob, to prevent disruption of reunions and commencement, will put divestment to Brd vote in Sept and create committee to reevaluate ties to Israeli universities https://t.co/6YmI0o4Zrc
— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) May 19, 2024
Other universities cutting deals with protesters in an apparent effort to avoid bringing in police include Northwestern, which said last month it would establish scholarships for five Palestinian students and establish a special house for Middle Eastern and North African students.
Prominent Wesleyan graduates include Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, both of Colorado.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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