Editor's note: This is a developing story. Read the latest here.
4:41 p.m.
The university has confirmed that a meeting between protesters and University President Sunil Kumar occurred today.
Patrick Collins, executive director of media relations, gave the following statement to the Daily: “As previously reported, the university issued a no trespass order to the protesters in the encampment on its academic quad yesterday evening. Today, President Kumar has met with protest leaders in the spirit of exploring every path possible for a peaceful and voluntary resolution and a successful Commencement for our graduates and their loved ones. We have no further updates at this time.”
Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine could not be reached for comment.
11:49 a.m.
Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine claimed via an Instagram post at 11:24 a.m. that the administration has agreed to reopen negotiations. A meeting will occur between students and University President Sunil Kumar, according to Tufts SJP.
Patrick Collins, executive director of media relations, declined to comment.
9:40 a.m.
No major disruptions took place overnight as the ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’ enters its 10th consecutive day on Tufts’ campus, after the university issued a formal warning Tuesday evening for protesters to clear the Academic Quad.
May 1, 12:17 a.m.
No substantial updates as the quad falls quiet. Students are no longer chanting.
10:48 p.m.
Students began leading various chants of “Apartheid kills, Tufts pays the bills,” “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and other phrases at around 10:30 p.m.
Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine claimed via an Instagram post around 9 p.m. that undercover police officers and members of the Medford Police Department had been seen on campus. Tufts University Police Department and Patrick Collins, executive director of media relations, declined to comment.
Earlier in the night, the crowd joined in a Levantine folk dance, dabke, accompanied by music played through speakers.
Photos by Veronika Coyle / The Tufts Daily
8:46 p.m.
Approximately 150 people are currently gathered on the Academic Quad. The scene appears peaceful, with students praying and listening to further “arrest trainings.” At one point, students put their arms around each other’s backs and swayed backward and forward, practicing a formation to prevent themselves from being broken apart by police.
“We’re here to protect students, their right to protest and to be involved in these issues that affect all of us,” Tufts professor Penn Loh said at the encampment. “I’m also out here as a parent. My two children are both students here. Both as a faculty and as a parent, I am really concerned with how the administration has been reacting. "
In a follow-up email, Loh wrote, “I hope they open lines of communication with students around the issues that they have spent long hours and open democratic discussion to develop and have passed through the TCU senate."
“We want to make sure that everyone is safe and students get to protest,” another professor at the scene said. “It’s their choice, it’s their freedom, and they’re doing it in a peaceful manner, very inspiring in many ways. We are here to support them in any way we can.”
“I'm just happy to see that there's so much student body engagement,” one alum in attendance said. “It’s really nice to see the solidarity here. I just hope that things are going to go peacefully tonight.”
6:35 p.m.
Tufts’ Office of General Counsel has formally warned “all individuals occupying the Academic Quad” that they are no longer allowed there, an email sent to Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine at 5:50 p.m. reads.
“Tufts University is providing you with formal notice that effective immediately, you are no longer allowed on the Academic Quad,” the email reads. “In accordance with Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 266, section 120, if you refuse to leave, you will be considered a trespasser and will be subject to arrest.”
Approximately 100 people are gathered at the encampment. An individual who declined to speak with the Daily gave a roughly 10-minute brief to the group on protester safety. They reiterated protesters’ rights and told the group not to resist arrest, among other pieces of advice for navigating police encounters.
Photos by Veronika Coyle, Matthew Sage / The Tufts Daily
5:33 p.m.
University leaders announced shortly after 5 p.m. that they will issue a “no trespass order” to students remaining at the encampment on the Academic Quad, after negotiations with students failed earlier today. Tufts University Police Department has begun locking buildings on the Academic Quad as of 5 p.m.
“Tufts students who do not vacate the space will be subject to the Community Standards processes which may result in suspension or other sanctions,” University President Sunil Kumar and four other administrators wrote in the university-wide email. “For seniors, this may include not participating in senior week activities or Commencement. It is our strong desire that it does not come to this, and the protesters choose to leave voluntarily.”
In an Instagram post made an hour before the email, Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine wrote that the university told representatives it will forcibly remove the encampment with a “heavy hand.”
The encampment has only grown in the day since the university sent an email demanding that protesters dismantle the tents in order to prepare for Commencement. Over 30 tents are currently sprawled across the quad, with tables barricading the group’s “Apartheid Wall” installation.
In an open letter addressed to Kumar, over 250 members of the graduating class have pledged to boycott Commencement if the university employs “police violence,” sweeps the encampment or arrests students. Signatories wrote that they also support community calls for the university to divest from Israeli companies and call for an “immediate and permanent” ceasefire, as well as the release of all hostages.
“If the Tufts administration were to unleash this violence against our peers currently occupying the Academic Quad, it would mar our experience of commencement far more than chalked slogans and a keffiyeh on an elephant statue ever could,” the open letter reads.
In addition, the group Tufts Faculty and Staff for Ceasefire published an open letter earlier this week urging the university to avoid the use of police force against protesters and expressing support for the protesters’ demands.
Estelle Anderson, Matthew Sage, Anna Fattaey and Shannon Murphy report.
