Students for Justice in Palestine form an encampment on the first floor of Smith Union at Bowdoin College. Organizers are protesting President Donald Trump’s recent comments on U.S. “ownership” of Gaza and reiterated calls for the college to meet the demands of last year’s Bowdoin Solidarity Referendum. Miles Berry/Bowdoin Orient
Student protestors with Bowdoin Students For Justice in Palestine have set up an encampment inside the college’s student union building and are now facing disciplinary action from the school.
The organization announced the protest Thursday as the college’s board of trustees was meeting. According to the release, the event was planned as a response to the administration’s lack of action on the Bowdoin Solidarity Referendum, a student initiative that passed with broad support in May that called on Bowdoin to, among other things, disclose investments in arms manufacturing and commit to not investing in defense industry funds in the future.
“Today, we launch this encampment, demanding that Bowdoin immediately commit to fully realizing all four demands of our referendum,” the announcement read.
The protest also comes just days after President Donald Trump announced plans to “take over the Gaza Strip” and redevelop it during a White House news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Maine’s federal delegation decried the announcement as unserious and dangerous.
“Trump has vowed his unequivocal support for Israel’s genocide, most recently calling for the United States to ethnically cleanse and ‘take over’ Gaza,” the Bowdin SJP announcement read. “Today, we act for our peers in Gaza and the West Bank, heeding the calls of Birzeit University professors and staff: “Gaza is not for sale. Palestine is not a real estate project.’”
The protest kicked off with a demonstration outside of the Smith Union building, then students entered the building and set up tents, according to reporting from the Bowdoin Orient. The encampment included a banner reading “Shaban al-Dalou Union,” an ode to a Palestinian software student who died in a hospital tent because of an Israeli airstrike, according to organizers.
Around midnight, Senior Associate Dean for Student Affairs Katie Toro-Ferrari told students they had to leave the encampment before 1 a.m. or face consequences.
“I want to make sure students understand that this could put them on the path where they are jeopardizing their ability to remain as Bowdoin students,” she told the Orient.
The paper reported that around 1 a.m., college security staff began collecting student IDs, but at least 50 protestors remained. On Friday morning, college security officers blocked access to the building with protestors still inside. Vice President of Student Affairs Jim Hoppe addressed the encampment in an 8 a.m. email to students.
“While we support students’ right to express their views, it is essential to note that college policy prohibits activities that disrupt the normal operations of the College,” Hoppe said. “Smith Union is a shared space, meant to be accessible to all members of our campus community, and no group or individual can restrict access to it.”
Students began receiving notices about disciplinary hearings, according to posts on the Bowdoin Students For Justice in Palestine Instagram account. At around noon on Friday, the Orient reported that about 20 additional students broke past a line of security officers to enter the building.
Students gather outside the locked Smith Union at Bowdoin College, chanting to communicate with students and security officials inside the encampment. Janet Briggs/Bowdoin Orient
In a Friday afternoon statement to the Press Herald, organizers of Bowdoin SJP said they would stay encamped for “as long as it takes” to convince the college to divest from weapons industries.
“We are encamping Smith Union because we demand better from an institution that claims to care about the common good,” they said.
Bowdoin Director of Communications Doug Cook shared a statement from the college Friday afternoon, confirming that protestors would be disciplined.
“The demonstration that began on our campus on February 6 is in clear violation of our policies, and those students who are participating will be subject to the disciplinary process,” Cook said. “Bowdoin’s priority is to ensure that all our students, faculty, and staff feel safe and welcome on campus.”
The college did not answer specific questions about its response to the Bowdoin Solidarity Referendum or student discipline.
Protest organizers described the college’s actions as egregious, and said students were called in to disciplinary hearings with as little notice as four minutes.
“They’ve tried to isolate us from the broader community, to villainize us to our peers,” organizers said. “But we’re so heartened by the support we’re receiving from students, faculty, and members of the broader Brunswick community. Community power is what has gotten us this far, and community power is how we will win.”