Washington University continues to face backlash for its handling of an anti-war protest that led to the arrests of over 100 people on April 27. The university’s response included issuing temporary suspensions to students and faculty who were arrested.
Israel’s seven-month-long bombardment in Gaza has sparked nationwide protests on college campuses. In St. Louis, demonstrators at Wash U who attempted to set up a Gaza solidarity encampment on campus grounds were met with law enforcement officers from several local police departments.
The heavy police force was not justifiable, said Shanti Parikh, chair of the African and African American department and professor of anthropology. She worries it has damaged the university’s reputation in St. Louis and beyond.
“Many of us know that there was already suspicion and a bit of distrust with the community,” Parikh told St. Louis on the Air. “This is just setting it back.”
Protesters demanded that the university stop investing in Boeing because it supplies weapons to Israel, which declared war on Hamas after its attack on Oct. 7. Instead of engaging with protesters and finding common ground, Parikh said, the “administration is being heavy-handed so that they can show that they are supportive of Israel.”
The university maintains that it has not taken a position on the war and that it remains committed to free expression and peaceful protest.
"Student Affairs staff have been working with our students and faculty to facilitate dialogue about this complex issue since Oct. 7, and we will continue to do so," Wash U spokeswoman Julie Hail Flory said.
But students like junior Andrew de las Alas see the university’s response as part of a strategy to intimidate students and shut down pro-Palestinian activism.
“I think what we saw on April 27 was the reality of how they will treat speech that they just don't like,” said de las Alas, who was arrested and temporarily suspended after protesting last month.
Despite the arrest and risk to his academic future, de las Alas doesn’t regret his decision to join the protest.
“There's really no place that any kind of educational institution has in reaping the benefits of Boeing or other kinds of organizations that are profiting off the suffering of many of the families and the home countries of their students,” de las Alas said.
In a statement, Wash U spokeswoman Flory said the tone of this protest was not peaceful and included “aggressive chanting.”
“We will not hesitate to enforce campus policy when behavior threatens the safety and security of our community. Our highest priority is the safety of our students and employees,” Flory said.
Wash U senior Emmett Campbell said the university is deliberately mischaracterizing the protest.
“The idea that these protests are threatening to Jewish students is just incorrect,” said Campbell, who co-founded Wash U Jewish Students for Palestine last semester as a way to express his anti-Zionist beliefs.
“When you go to these protests, and you realize the population of Jewish students who are there saying the same chants and the same thing that every other protester is doing, I think that that's the clearest point — the threat isn't against Jewish students. It's against the Israeli government,” Campbell said.
Michael Allen, a senior lecturer at Wash U who was arrested and suspended, said the school can still reverse some of the harm it caused by releasing suspensions and not pursuing charges.
“A lot of people are now culpable in carrying out this plan, and it's incredibly damaging,” Allen said. “If this kind of abuse of faculty and students happens quietly and is just brushed under the rug, Washington University becomes a really toxic, dysfunctional family. These things need to be aired and acknowledged so we can heal.”
For the full conversation with Shanti Parikh, chair of the African and African American Studies department, Wash U junior Andrew de las Alas and senior lecturer Michael Allen about the protest on Wash U’s campus and its aftermath, listen to the St. Louis on the Air conversation on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or by clicking the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Ulaa Kuziez, Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Roshae Hemmings is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
