Student protesters from six Baltimore-area colleges are organizing together to call for Palestinian liberation and demand action from their school leaders.
Representatives from Johns Hopkins, University of Baltimore, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), Goucher College and Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) gathered on Tuesday afternoon at the site of Hopkins’ ongoing student encampment. Protesters from Towson University also submitted a statement to be read aloud.
“We are here to show that we are not only organized on our campuses, but across campuses, and that we are in solidarity with each other and with the people of Palestine,” said one Hopkins organizer.
This unified effort comes as Israel begins invading Rafah – the region originally identified as a safe zone for Gazans – and has cut off a vital entry point for humanitarian aid.
All of Tuesday’s speakers requested anonymity out of concern for their safety. They echoed each others’ calls for the disclosure of and divestment from companies with ties to Israel, public statements from college leaders acknowledging genocide, and the right to peacefully protest without police intervention or academic punishment.
“The students of Baltimore condemn the notion of neutrality in fighting for social justice, and implore our universities to use their institutional power for good for justice, for the liberation of Palestine,” the first organizer, from Hopkins, said.
Most college officials did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication.
At Goucher College and Hopkins, students continue to camp out on main lawns until their protest demands are met. Students at the other colleges have held rallies and hung posters, met with school leaders and demanded transparency.
A senior from University of Baltimore said the school’s president only sent out one public statement about the Israel-Hamas war on October 10.
“The words genocide, apartheid, ethnic-cleansing and imperialism were nowhere to be found,” they said. “The neutral language used in the statement does nothing but mischaracterize the issue and severely downplay the oppression and violence the Palestinians have endured.”
President Kurt Schmoke sent an email Wednesday afternoon urging all University of Baltimore members to “work toward peace together.”
“I recognize that our joy is tempered by those in our community who are touched directly or indirectly by the wars raging in Ukraine, Israel/Gaza, and Sudan,” he said in the statement. “Together, we're in search of a way forward. And we don't pretend to have all the answers.”
Multiple students advocated for the divestment from companies tied to Israel. UMBC and Hopkins representatives specifically mentioned weapons companies like Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.
“These weapons contractors rake in billions of dollars selling weapons to the so-called State of Israel, missiles that destroy the homes and infrastructure of Palestinians, as well as surveillance technology used to enforce the brutal siege on Gaza,” a UMBC student said Tuesday.
One MICA student also demanded the college stop supplying food items from Starbucks and Sabra Hummus.
The students cited instances where college leaders threatened police intervention and other disciplinary action in response to protest.
At Goucher, student journalists reported that President Kent Deveraux sent a late-April email calling for an end to the campus encampment – and threatening action that “could range anywhere from losing the ability to reside on campus, loss of scholarship support, or possible suspension or termination from Goucher College.”
“The encampment that the administration wants us to tear down is one that holds meaningful teachings twice a day, shares meals together, holds Shabbat services, and fosters a community,” one Goucher student said Tuesday.
The organizers also rejected any conflation of their Pro-Palestine demands and sentiments with antisemitism.
Celeste, a community organizer who’s been protesting with Hopkins students, said protesters are working to “establish a very inclusive community.”
“Here, we have many non-Zionist Jewish students that stay in the encampment; we have people that come for Shabbat every Saturday,” she told WYPR. “We do not make any antisemitic remarks. We are nonviolent; we are trying to do this as peacefully as possible.”
Hopkins student organizers are meeting with university leaders Tuesday evening for a second attempt at negotiations.
“We're really hoping that the administration is willing to hear out our demands and come to a consensus today at the meeting table,” Celeste said.
Hopkins organizers said Tuesday that they will not stop protesting until their demands are met and Palestine is free.
This story has been updated to include statements from college leadership.
