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13 arrested outside Emerson College presidential inauguration while protesting school’s stance on Israel-Hamas war
The arrested demonstrators, of which 12 were Emerson students, were protesting the college's tuition hikes and "silence" on the Israel-Hamas war.
Thirteen people were arrested outside of an inauguration for Emerson College’s new president Friday while protesting the university’s tuition hikes and stance on the Israel-Hamas war, school and law enforcement officials said.
Boston police confirmed to Boston.com that 13 people were arrested by Emerson College Police and booked by the Boston Police Department.
The arrests took place outside of Cutler Majestic Theatre Friday morning as some 50 protestors gathered while Emerson’s new president Jay M. Bernhardt was being inaugurated, the school said in a letter to the community sent on Friday. Twelve of the 13 demonstrators were Emerson students, the school said.
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“The situation escalated when a number of protesters did not comply with multiple police requests, leading to the detention of 12 Emerson students,” Bernhardt said in the letter. “Initial reports indicate these individuals were arrested for disturbing the peace and disorderly conduct.”
All of the students had been released from custody as of Saturday, Emerson’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) group said in a post on its Instagram page. In a follow-up letter on Sunday, Bernhardt said the school would not pursue charges against those arrested at the demonstration.
“We will request that the Boston District Attorney dismiss all criminal charges,” Bernhardt, the 13th president of the college, wrote. Bernhardt assumed the role of president in June last year.
Students protesting school’s “silence” on Israel-Hamas war
Friday’s demonstration, which was organized by SJP, was protesting the “College’s tuition hikes, suppression of students and faculty, and silence on the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” the group said in an Instagram post.
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Eleven out of 13 students arrested were people of color, SJP said.
“Emerson has lied and failed to protect its students,” the group said in an Instagram post. “The College is directly responsible for what happened today and over the last six months of the Genocide in Gaza.”
The college has held 26 disciplinary hearings for students in recent weeks on charges relating to previous protests. The charges have included failure to comply, disorderly conduct, and disruptive behavior, SJP said.
Arrests caused “distress and anxiety” in Emerson community
In its Sunday statement, the school said it would hire an “external, independent reviewer to oversee the administrative hearing and Student Conduct Process connected to Friday’s demonstration.”
“At Emerson, we cherish respectful dialogue and value diversity of opinions and backgrounds as integral to our identity,” Bernhardt said. “We remain steadfast in supporting the right to express dissenting views and perspectives, provide the expression aligns with our established time, place, and manner standards.”
The arrests follow months of demonstrations by college students protesting Israel’s military operations in Gaza since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, which have sometimes been followed by disciplinary action from universities. Last month, MIT suspended a student group on campus for conducting a demonstration “without going through the normal permission processes.”
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Bernhardt had reportedly told the students they were allowed to demonstrate “immediately outside” of the theater as long as they weren’t blocking the doors. The group maintained that their protest was peaceful.
Bernhardt said the students’ arrest cause “deep distress and anxiety” in the Emerson community.
“Speaking on behalf of the leadership team, we understand the depth of these feelings and the context of this protest against the backdrop of world events,” Bernhardt wrote.
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