Protestors have set up pro-Palestinian protest encampments at MIT and Emerson College following the massive six-day demonstration that has shut down in-person classes at Columbia, while Harvard has closed off its campus to the public to prevent any similar demonstrations.
The encampment protest began last week at Columbia University in New York, spurring several others in solidarity and with students and activists calling for schools to “divest” from companies and institutions that support Israel and join calls for a ceasefire in Gaza. The massive demonstrations led the school to cancel in person classes on Monday.
The starting protest at Columbia led to the arrests of over 100 students last Thursday. Around 45 more pro-Palestine protestors at Yale were arrested Monday when demonstrations grew on that campus, the Yale Daily News reported.
Encampments have been set up by Emerson students in an area of Boylston Street, echoing the other schools calls to divest from Israel-supporting affiliates. A similar protest reportedly formed on the Tufts campus Monday.
MIT students set up a Scientists Against Genocide Encampment on the school’s Kresge Lawn, citing “$11 million in research funding” the school has received from Israel since 2015 and calling specifically for the university to “cut research ties with the Israeli military.”
The Harvard closure follows an over 200-person protest on the school yard in solidarity with Columbia protestors last Friday. Officials posted signs at the campus entrances Monday reading, “Harvard Yard will be closed today” and specifying five gates that school community members with valid IDs may enter and exit through.
The signs warned of “disciplinary action” for any students who refuse to present IDs when asked, who put up tents or tables, or who block entrances or paths.
The campus will remain closed until Friday, the Harvard Crimson reported from a letter from the administration sent to students, “out of an abundance of caution and with the safety of our community as a priority.”