BRYN MAWR— Students at Bryn Mawr College continue to protest within the encampment, or “The People’s College For the Liberation of Palestine,” as they have requested it be called. Tuesday marked the fourth day since since the encampment began, and, like the days before it, saw mounting tensions between protesters and administration.
At 12:45 p.m, organizers began a rally under Pembroke Arch, leading students in a series of chants: “Divestment is our demand, no peace on stolen land,” and “Up, up with liberation, down down with the occupation,” they shouted, cued by an organizer carrying a bullhorn.
The rally included two controversial chants: “Globalize the intifada,” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Organizers announced to the crowd that the administration was threatening anyone chanting these statements with an Honor Board Panel. However, they were not intimidated. “We are going to keep using the language of this movement,” an organizer requesting to go by R.F. for fear of retaliation from administration. She told students that these words are from the mouths of Palestinians engaging in resistance. Back at the encampment on Merion Green, organizers reaffirmed their stance by saying “there is strength in numbers, they can’t ‘Honor Board’ all of us.”
R.F. herself was personally confronted with the possibility of disciplinary action by Burroughs, who said in person as well as through email that she planned to file a report on the organizer. However, R.F as well as her fellow organizers seem to think this a baseless threat. The Honor Code, the protesters say, does not allow for disciplinary action against public protest like this, and so they expect a Dean’s Panel instead. However, the Honor Board must be involved with the process of a Dean’s Panel unless the case involves accusations of criminal activity that are outside the jurisdiction of student leadership.
“I think it’s good that a lot of us are seniors,” R.F. said. “Like, I’m gonna graduate in a week – what can they do to me?” This fact of the organizers’ age is both a blessing and cause for uneasiness. When first asked about the intended duration of the encampment, R.F. adamantly asserted, “People’s College will not be moved. We will remain here until the college meets our demands.” When asked what the plan is once finals weeks are over, students begin to move out for the summer term, and many organizers graduate, R.F. says, “we haven’t gotten that far yet.”
Burroughs did not respond to a request for comment, nor did Honor Board leadership.
Support and Opposition from Community Members
The Bi-Co News spoke with organizers while lunch was being served: prepackaged Halal food provided by Muslim members of the wider Main Line community, offered to everyone both in and outside the encampment. “The Main Line Muslims have been pulling up,” R.F. said. “They’re amazing. That’s another thing we should [publish]. [Much of our resources] are coming from the Main Line Muslims; they’re giving us so much support, it’s so beautiful. Even people from the city have been driving up, it’s beautiful.”
However, other members of the wider community have not been as supportive. Another organizer mentioned antagonistic confrontations she’s had over multiple days about the same issues. “The women who are coming up to me … [have] like the same exact spiel,” shesaid. The organizers say these confrontations are in reference to the widespread sexual violence which reportedly took place on Oct. 7, when members of Hamas breached the Gaza-Israel border.
“[They say] ‘if you were doing this in any Arab country … you would all be tortured.’,” she added. “Like crazy, racist stuff.”
Some members of the Mainline community also came to the encampment, using chalk to create artwork inspired by the Free Palestine movement.
Teach-In: Skateboarding Under Occupation
At 4:30 p.m., Bryn Mawr College Visiting Professor of Philosophy August Faller gave a talk titled “Skateboarding Under Occupation.” Faller, wearing a blue Philadelphia themed Free Palestine hat, talked of his experience traveling to the city of Nablus and teaching the sport of skateboarding to Palestinian youths. Faller noted how he was not Jewish nor Arab, but felt a strong connection to the pro-Palestinian movement.
Faller discussed what he saw as a lack of opportunity for children in the West Bank, where Palestinian authorities have stated that over half of the population is under 18. Stressing the importance of activities for children, Faller said that “building a skatepark meant that kids had an outlet.” Faller continued by saying that “skateboarding is unique in that it has an international culture. People all over the world skateboard and recognize each other as skateboarders.”
Faller also stated that he witnessed “unfair” life under the Israeli occupational rule in the West Bank, noting the settlements in Hebron, which are illegal under international law. Faller stated that “it’s pretty obvious once you’re there [in reference to the West Bank] who’s the occupier and who is the occupied.”
Jewish Solidarity Circle
At 7:00 p.m, around 15 people gathered in the center of the “People’s College”, to sing both Jewish peace songs and civil rights hymms. One of the organizers of the events began by stating the importance of having “really powerful spaces of Judaism” within the encampment.
The circle began with the Hineh Matov, a Jewish hymn. The circle included other songs such as “We Rise,” which has traditionally been used for various social movements, most notably the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s.
The Bi-Co spoke with Maya, an organizer of the circle, who asked to go by their first name for fear of doxxing. Maya told the Bi-Co, “we had our first Jewish song circle on Sunday, and we wanted to hold this event as a place for the Jewish community and everyone in the People’s College for the Liberation of Gaza to come together to call for peace in occupied Palestine and honor the memory of all Palestinians killed by the Israeli occupation.”
Vigil & May Day Updates
Bryn Mawr students received an email update on May Day scheduling at 7:13 p.m. from Traditions Representative Aaniyah Jones BMC ’25. The message stated that they had “relocated several aspects of May Day out of respect for the People’s College for the Liberation of Palestine and its programming.” The email also noted that while many events, like the concert, will still be taking place on Denbigh Green, other traditions like May Pole dancing will not be held due to “location limitations.”
At 7:50 p.m. students gathered in the center of the encampment to hold a vigil honoring the civilian victims of Israel’s onslaught in Gaza. Students sat together, held a moment of silence, and listened as an organizer then read out around 40 names out of the over 34,000 Palestinians killed in the attacks following Oct. 7.
At around 8:15 p.m. an older man began to record those in the encampment. Organizers urged everyone to put on their masks and a few leaders went to go speak with him. The situation deescalated quickly, and the man left soon after he was approached.
Protesters finished their nightly general body meeting with more protest chants as the sun set over the college: “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.”
CORRECTION: Previously, August Faller was erroneously listed at an Associate Professor of Philosophy. This is wrong. He is a visiting professor. We have rectified this error and apologize for the mistake.
