UNIVERSITY CITY — Students were scrambling for a place to live and professors were wondering if they’d teach again after they were barred from Washington University’s campus following an anti-war protest that ended in mass arrests.
Some of the students arrested during Saturday’s protest against the Israel-Hamas war were evicted from on-campus housing, leaving them “effectively houseless” for the final days of the university’s spring semester, said Penny Thaman, a student and one of the organizers of the protest.
“Many of them are living with friends right now or couch surfing,” Thaman said.
And among the professors placed on leave following the protest was St. Louis Board of Aldermen President Megan Green, an adjunct at the school.
Green — barred from campus despite not being arrested — said she was placed on administrative leave Monday and received a letter that she was “relieved of her job duties” and prohibited from campus, although she’s still allowed to teach virtually.
“This is a very heavy-handed approach to (an) exercise of free speech,” Green said in an interview Monday.
It’s unclear how many students were evicted from campus and how many faculty were put on leave. A university spokesperson declined to comment on student discipline and personnel matters.
In a message to the school community on Monday, Chancellor Andrew Martin called Saturday a “dark, sad day for WashU” and bashed what he said was “not a peaceful protest.”
“We’ve all watched as protests have spiraled out of control on other campuses across the country in recent months,” Martin wrote. “We are not letting this happen here.”
In all, more than 100 people were arrested Saturday after protesters tried to set up an encampment in support of Palestine at the school and refused to disperse. The protest, organized by students, called for the school to cut all ties to Boeing Co., a major supplier of military equipment to Israel and a leading employer in the St. Louis region.
The school’s response mirrored that of higher education institutions across the U.S., where students have been arrested at schools including Columbia University, Yale University, Northwestern University and, on Monday, the University of Texas-Austin.
The war in Gaza erupted Oct. 7 when Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israel, killing 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed since then, with the majority of those being women and children, according to Gaza health officials. About 80% of Gaza’s population has been driven out of their homes, The Associated Press reports.
Martin, the chancellor, said Monday that the weekend’s arrestees would face various criminal charges including trespassing, resisting arrest and assault. But no applications for charges had been submitted as of Monday afternoon, said Chris King, a spokesman for St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell.
Julie Hail Flory, vice chancellor for marketing and communications at the college, said the school had no new information about the arrests outside of its public statements. She referred further inquiries about potential charges or tickets to the county prosecutor’s office.
One of the students arrested, senior Nash Overfield, said he received a call from a university official at 11:30 a.m. Sunday telling him to move out of his dorm by 8 p.m. that night or he’d be “removed by the police.”
Overfield said he was arrested on suspicion of trespassing, noting that he pays more than $80,000 a year to attend the school.
Commencement is now out of the question for Overfield; the university told him he will not be allowed to attend.
Overfield said he has a sublet planned for the summer, but it’s not yet available.
In the meantime, he’s not sure what he’ll do. His family lives in Kansas City. He could drive home, he said, but his belongings won’t fit in his car.
“Until then,” he said, “I guess I’m reliant on the kindness of our friends and community members.”
The protest
Many attendees, including Green, said Monday that the protest was peaceful until police responded with force.
Green called the atmosphere “jovial” and “loving” as about 300 people gathered around 3 p.m. Saturday and set up about 10 tents outside the school’s Olin Library. They later moved to Tisch Park after police told protesters to disperse.
After arrests began by 7:30 p.m., social media posts showed officers pushing some individuals to the ground and holding bicycles to push against demonstrators.
“It could have gone differently, and it should have gone differently,” Green said. “It’s really unfortunate the university chose force and violence over dialogue and diplomacy.”
In his statement, Martin painted the protest in a different light: He said the demonstrators were “behaving aggressively, swinging flagpoles and sticks.” He said some attempted to break into locked buildings or “deface property.”
“To be crystal clear, we will not permit students and faculty, and we certainly will not permit outside interests, to take over Washington University property to establish encampments to promote any political or social agenda,” Martin wrote.
Campus police and officers from University City, Richmond Heights, Clayton, St. Louis and St. Louis County responded to the protest. In a Saturday statement, the school said three officers suffered “significant injuries,” including a severe concussion, a broken finger and a groin injury.
At least 23 of the more than 100 people arrested were students, the university said. At least four were employees of the school.
Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier also attended the protest, as did third-party presidential candidate Jill Stein, who was arrested.
In addition to demands the school divest from Boeing, protesters also asked the university to cut ties with Israeli educational institutions, including study abroad programs; to stop acquiring real estate in St. Louis and to “return all land to indigenous communities.”
Green said she agreed with the demands, noting that she also appreciated the call for the university to make payments in lieu of taxes.
Students from both Washington University and St. Louis University plan to protest again on Wednesday, this time on SLU’s campus, according to a flyer from protest groups.
The group Resist WashU said in a social media post on Monday that a group of students and alumni are “committing to a hunger strike” in response to the arrests.
Dana Rieck of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
Photos: Protests over Gaza met with arrests at Washington University in St. Louis
"We've all watched as protests have spiraled out of control on other campuses across the country in recent months. We are not letting this happen here."
Green has been outspoken in her advocacy for Palestinians amid a wave of campus demonstrations across the country denouncing Israel’s war in Gaza.
Police arrest protesters attempting to camp in support of Palestine on Saturday, April 27, 2024, on Washington University's campus in St. Louis. Dozens were arrested during the protest.
Protesters in support of Palestine link arms around campers as they continue to set up an encampment as police show up on April 27, on Washington University’s campus in St. Louis. Dozens were arrested during the protest.