Students at Tufts have established a camp on the school grounds in protest of the war in Gaza and the university’s alleged investments in companies involved in the conflict. — Photos by Bobbie Toner

By Fernando Cervantes Jr.

For the past couple of weeks, members of the Tufts community, led by the Tufts Chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), have been staging a tent protest right in the middle of the University’s Medford campus.

As of Tuesday, following allegations of vandalism and failed negotiations, Tufts University will be issuing a no-trespass order to protesters and handing penalties and suspensions to students who continue to be involved in the camp.

Students in the camp are protesting the current war in Gaza and are calling for Tufts to divest from companies that have a level of involvement.

In an April 28 message, Kumar alleged that the group had broken various university policies and allegedly harassed members of the community and tour groups. The message from the administration also claimed that the protestors had vandalized multiple buildings and locations across campus.

“While we have always felt that dialogue is the best approach to resolving differences, it would not be appropriate to discuss a meeting with the student organizers until they clear the academic quad,” according to the email.

The university is seeking for the encampment to end in the next few days to begin preparations for this year’s commencement ceremony. On Tuesday, members of the SJP and Tufts held an initial meeting between both groups.

In an Instagram post on Tuesday afternoon, the SJP said that negotiations between themselves and the university had failed. According to the organization, the university expressed to members that they would be removed from the encampment with a “heavy hand”.

In a follow-up email sent also on Tuesday afternoon, the university alleged that members of the protest refused to discuss proposals if certain conditions were not met.

“Unfortunately, the students refused to discuss the proposals, insisting instead upon an in-person meeting with the president, the chief investment officer, and members of the board of trustees,” according to the statement.

In response to these calls, the university agreed to hold this meeting, but only if the protesters were to clear the academic quad.

An open letter also began to circulate around the university from both undergraduate and graduate students graduating this year.

The letter called the April 28 email concerning and pledged to boycott this year’s commencement if violence is used to clear the encampment.

“We were shocked and deeply concerned by your email sent Sunday evening using the approaching commencement ceremony as a pretext for implied violence against the students currently protesting on the Academic Quad,” according to the letter.

As of the writing of this article, more than 150 students from various majors have joined the pledge.

“If the University turns to police violence rather than engaging with its own students, we pledge to boycott the commencement ceremony in solidarity with our peers currently protesting on the Academic Quad and the people of Gaza,” according to the letter.

Tufts University was not able to be reached for comment and the Tufts Chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine declined to comment.

A copy of the Tufts email can be downloaded from: http://www.thesomervilletimes.com/downloads/tufts_email.pdf