On the morning of May 3, the Swarthmore Borough police department disbanded a four-day pro-Palestinian camp on the Swarthmore University campus, arresting nine activists. One current and one former Swarthmore University student were among those arrested, but the rest came from outside the university community, University president Valerie Smith said in a statement.
“As concerns about campus safety and security have increased, there was no sign of a continuing and increasing number of individuals not associated with the university, warnings from outside law enforcement, or that protesters were not willing to engage in conversations that would end the camp,” Smith said.
The Swarthmore College camp sweep followed a temporary suspension of a total of seven Swarthmore College students to build the camp earlier in the week. A student in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, was suspended without legitimate procedures and was told to evacuate from campus, Swarthmore students said in a statement on May 2 that they are students for justice for the Palestine (SJP) group.
Of the students temporarily suspended, several were people of color or first-generation low-income students, he said, “This is part of Swarthmore’s disturbing trend to exploit the vulnerability of student protesters based on racialized discrimination.” Students who have been suspended in the interim are prohibited from attending university events or stepping into campus. Swarthmore SJP did not respond to requests for comment by the publication date.
In a statement to the campus community on May 1, Smith said protesters had destroyed campus property. “If they continue to disband and violate university policies and laws, Smith said, “We have no choice but to escalate our response when considering all the actions to end the camp.”
The SJP used social media to encourage activists outside the university to join the camp, Smith said, and they ignored repeated requests to open the Trotter lawn where they built the camp. “We have notified students multiple times orally and written that they have violated several policies in the Student Code of Conduct. Students have repeatedly warned that they were instructed to disband the camp and leave the Trotter lawn, or that otherwise it will lead to interim suspension.”
Swarthmore College is one of 60 schools under investigation into the Trump administration’s consideration of anti-Semitic harassment on campus.
The campus campus campus was launched this spring with the revival of last year’s pro-Palestinian movement against Israel’s Gaza War. There, on October 7, 2023, they opposed Israeli war with Gaza, in which around 1,100 Israelis were killed. However, protests on the pro-Palestinian campus this year have been attenuated by crackdowns and punitive measures from the Trump administration.
Hundreds of student protesters established a dispersed camp on Yale University’s campus in late April. Some of them face disciplinary action from the university. And Tulane University faces punitive measures, including suspension and expulsion for seven students attending off-campus protests in New Orleans.
This article was revised on May 3, 2025 to correct the Yale Camp in 2024, which was incorrectly referenced.
