Some 3,200 people were arrested on college campuses this spring during a wave of pro-Palestinian tent encampments protesting the war in Gaza. While some schools ended demonstrations by striking deals with the students, or simply waited them out, others called in police when protesters refused to leave.
Many students had those charges dismissed. But hundreds of cases have yet to be resolved on campuses with the highest number of arrests, according to an analysis of data gathered by the Associated Press and partner newsrooms, including The Boston Globe.
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Some of those students face uncertainty in their academic careers, while others harbor doubts about whether to stay enrolled in college at all. Some had injuries that interfered with their school work.
At Emerson College in Boston, 118 people were arrested, including 69 Emerson students, when police enforced a city ordinance against camping on public property. All were charged with disturbing the peace and granted “pre-arraignment diversion,” which means no charges would be filed in exchange for 40 hours of community service, prosecutors said.
Owen Buxton, an Emerson student, said he suffered a concussion after being shoved by police into a bronze statue in the alleyway where the protest took place on April 25. He took an Uber to a nearby emergency room after being released from jail.
It was the second time Buxton, 22, was arrested last semester for protesting the war in Gaza. He must complete 80 hours of community service to avoid being charged. The concussion and trauma of experiencing what he called “state violence” made it hard for Buxton to concentrate or participate in his classes for the rest of the spring semester, he said. Emerson allowed students to take the semester pass-fail after the arrests.
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“It stifled all my creativity. I didn’t make anything for months, which is not typical of me,” said Buxton, a filmmaker. “Even right now, talking is more difficult, getting ideas out is more difficult. There’s a constant haze over everything that I’m doing, and it’s really frustrating.”
A spokesperson for the Boston Police Department said individuals with concerns can file complaints with its internal affairs office.
A spokesperson for Emerson said the college “cares about the well-being of all of our students” and “encourages any student in need of physical or mental health services to reach out for support.”
As students return this fall, colleges are bracing for more protests against both Israel’s military and Hamas, and strategizing over tactics, including when to call in law enforcement — decisions that have lasting reverberations.
Some college leaders said calling in the police was the only option to end protests that stood in the way of commencement ceremonies, disrupted campus life, and included instances of antisemitic signs and language. Student groups and some faculty members have criticized college leaders for inviting police inside their gates.
The vast majority of cases against the demonstrators, whether against students, faculty, or people without any ties to the colleges, involve misdemeanors or lower-level charges such as trespassing and disorderly conduct.
In many cases, officials indicated they do not intend to pursue low-level violations, according to AP’s review of data on campuses with at least 100 arrests.
In upstate New York, the Ulster County district attorney asked judges to dismiss 129 cases stemming from arrests at the State University of New York at New Paltz.
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One SUNY-New Paltz student demonstrator, Ezra Baptist, said he was taken to a hospital with a concussion and a cut after being thrown forward and hitting his head during his arrest by state troopers. He was supposed to avoid looking at screens because of his injury and could not complete one class that he needed to graduate in May.
New York State Police said anyone who believes troopers acted inappropriately can file a complaint so it can be investigated. Another police agency at the scene, the county sheriff’s office, said that officers showed restraint and that a trooper was injured when demonstrators threw bottles.
In St. Louis, Valencia Alvarez is waiting to hear what will come of the potential charges she and 99 others could face for a protest on April 27 that lasted less than half a day at Washington University in St. Louis.
Twenty-three of those arrested were students. In June, the university gave them two options: a hearing with the Office of Student Conduct, or “accept responsibility” and forgo further investigation. Alvarez took the first option.
“I don’t really plan on being quiet about this, and I think that’s the goal of the second option,” Alvarez said.
While she awaits the resolution of her case, Alvarez does not have the master’s degree in public health she would have received by now if not for her arrest.
“I want that degree,” Alvarez said. “I worked four jobs throughout my two years at Wash U to be able to afford tuition without pulling out any loans.”
Students were not the only ones to experience lasting effects from the protests.
Annelise Orleck, a history professor at Dartmouth College, recently restarted therapy for post traumatic stress symptoms after being arrested on the college green on May 1. Eighty-nine people were arrested, including two student journalists whose charges were later dropped.
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Orleck was charged with criminal trespassing, but prosecutors dropped her charge in July, Orleck said. Charges have been dropped for 34 people; another 54 people have had their charges reduced to violations; and one person faces a misdemeanor for resisting arrest, a spokesperson for the Hanover Police Department said.
Orleck said state police in riot gear shoved her to the ground, then kneeled on her back. She told them she couldn’t breathe.
A spokesperson for Dartmouth declined to comment.
At UMass Amherst, students recalled a peaceful demonstration before police arrived May 7 and arrested 134 people. UMass chancellor Javier Reyes later wrote in a letter to the campus community that he ordered the sweep as an “absolute last resort” after discussions with protesters broke down.
As arrestees were processed, Charles Sullivan, a graduate student in anthropology who is transgender, said they felt humiliated by campus police. An officer, Sullivan said, forced them to loudly describe their genitalia to gain access to a restroom.
Sullivan has since decided to leave the university to continue their studies, in part because of the arrest. Sullivan will move to Ohio in the fall to pursue a Ph.D., instead of continuing at UMass.
“I think mostly I’m just kind of ready to get out of this place,” Sullivan said.
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The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
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Associated Press writers Jake Offenhartz in New York, Michael Hill in Albany, N.Y., and Michael Melia in Hartford, Conn., contributed to this report.
Hilary Burns can be reached at hilary.burns@globe.com. Follow her @Hilarysburns.
