The Indiana University Divestment Coalition set up more than a dozen tents in Dunn Meadow Thursday.
(Aubrey Wright, WFIU/WTIU)
This story has been updated.
A few dozen Indiana University community members created an encampment on campus to pressure the university to divest from Israel on Thursday.
The IU Divestment Coalition, made up of students and faculty, are concerned with IU’s relationship to Israel, spokesperson Bryce Greene said.
Protesters set up over a dozen tents in Dunn Meadow around 11 a.m., and Greene said the group hopes to remain there until their demands are met.
He said they’re calling for IU to cut ties with Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane and the resignation of President Pamela Whitten, Provost Rahul Shrivastav and Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs Carrier Docherty. The three university leaders recently faced no confidence resolutions from faculty.
“There are many study abroad programs and other partnerships that IU has with Israel and other Israel lobby organizations that we are vehemently opposed to, especially given Israel's ongoing genocide that's being done with American support,” Greene said.
Protesters included Indiana University students, faculty and other community members. (Aubrey Wright, WTIU/WFIU)
The IU Police Department, state police and the university’s Demonstration Response team were present at the protest. The response team and police handed out flyers saying overnight camping and temporary structures such as tents are not permitted. IU posted other signs at Dunn Meadow with the same restrictions.
The IU Divestment Coalition and other groups on campus have accused Israel of genocide against Palestinian people. The Associated Press reportedas of April 21 more than 34,000 Palestinians have died since the conflict began on Oct. 7. Israel’s military response came after about 1,200 were killed by Hamas on Oct. 7, and 100 people are held hostage.
The group created signs, some saying “Liberated Zone,” “Your tuition funds genocide,” and “Divest from genocide.”
Protesters also chanted about their demands, such as shouting “Free, free Palestine,” and “Disclose. Divest. We will not stop. We will not rest.”
Protesters were told to disperse by police after a few hours of encampment, but they remained by the time of publication. (Aubrey Wright, WTIU/WFIU)
“We are powerful, and we shape history,” Greene said with a megaphone while protesters set up. “And we are making history right now.”
The protesters want IU to end research and investment partnerships with Crane. Greene said Crane is “complicit” in the war on Palestine, and its technology and equipment support Israel’s military.
“IU’s support for Crane, and integration with Crane is of course, very dangerous for the Palestinian people,” Greene said.
Across the street from Dunn Meadow, counter-protesters at the Chabad House played Israeli music and displayed the Israel flag. The group hoisted up a banner saying “Bring them home now,” referring to hostages, and another sign saying they love being Jewish.
IU Divestment Coalition spokesperson Bryce Greene speaks into a megaphone and leads chants. (Aubrey Wright, WTIU/WFIU)
IU’s encampment follows a national movement. Pro-Palestine protesters on college campuses across the U.S. are setting up encampments, sometimes broken up with arrests, NPR reported.
"We explicitly stand in solidarity with Columbia University, UT Austin, Harvard, the UMN, all these other schools,” Greene said. “All these students, all the schools, are asserting their power, asserting their voices, asserting their demands from the university.”
Greene said the group hopes IU does not resort to violence. Police instructed protesters to leave around 1 p.m.
“We find it ridiculous that the university is even putting a show of force when these students are fighting against genocide,” Greene said. “Anyone fighting against genocide, ought to be supported, ought to be encouraged. The university's response is to suppress and intimidate.”
As the encampment took a break from chanting around 3:45 p.m., Indiana State Troopers came in from the west side of the meadow forming lines in front of a line of protesters. A trooper with a microphone gave demonstrators a five minute warning to disperse.
“Once we start moving,” he said over a microphone. “We are going to start the arrests.”
As the line of demonstrators did not move, troopers began to march forward. Things became violent as demonstrators collided with trooper’s riot shields. Troopers took demonstrators to the ground before cuffing them.
Many tried running from detainment, with one demonstrator getting as far as the other side of Campus River. According to the IU Police Department, 33 individuals were transported to the Monroe County Jail on an IU bus.
An IU spokesperson said in an email “Indiana University Bloomington is a campus where we encourage and respect free speech and open dialogue. To ensure the safety and security of the IU community and to avoid disruption of university operations, expressive activity must be conducted in accordance with university free speech and events policies. This includes the enforcement of policies that require advanced approval for the installation of temporary structures.”
Troopers did have tear gas on them, but did not end up using it. After they cleaned up the tents that made up today’s encampment, the troops backed out of the meadow leaving about 100 people that joined the remaining demonstrators.
Indiana State Police were still stationed on Fess Avenue off of 7th Street around 5 p.m. It is unknown if the encampment will be set up again.
Greene said protesters knew police would come.
Greene said he doesn’t know why IUPD could not have handled the protest without Indiana State Police troopers. He said a peaceful encampment and protest shouldn’t have been met with shields and batons.
“We don't believe that it's reasonable for universities or even states or anyone to send in that much force,” Greene said. “You saw the weapons. You saw the assault rifles. You saw the shotguns for students in the grass, putting up tents.”
Greene said the group will move on from setbacks with more energy, strength and coherence.
IU Police Department said in an email that the demonstration violated university policy ACA-BL-I18 2(C), which states “The temporary or permanent installation of structures (including, but not limited to, signage, tents, etc.) at any time must be approved in advance, by the Office of the Vice Provost for Student Life in conjunction with University Events, and if approved, must adhere to guidelines provided by the University.”
Indiana State Police spokespeople have not responded to requests for comment.
George Hale, Lucas González, and Lucinda Larnach contributed to this story.
Aubrey is our higher education reporter and a Report For America corps member. Contact her at aubmwrig@iu.edu or follow her on X @aubreymwright.
