Vanderbilt faces backlash after pulling Israel-divestment vote from student ballot

Vanderbilt University student protests began Tuesday after an amendment to the Vanderbilt Student Government Constitution, which would prevent student government funds from going to certain businesses that support Israel, was removed by administration officials from a student ballot in late March.

The sit-in ended early Wednesday morning, with numerous students removed from an administration building and at least three arrested and later released.

Nearly 30 students crammed into the halls of Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier’s office to hold a sit-in, along with over 30 more students on the steps outside, despite repeated threats of suspension and possible removal from the building.

The student amendment, which garnered over 600 signatures — well above the required amount to be put on the student ballot — followed guidelines from the national Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement to prohibit the spending of funds on businesses deemed “complicit” in Israel’s post-1967 occupation of part of Palestine.

It was proposed by Vanderbilt’s Divest Coalition, a conglomeration of around 20 student organizations and over 1,000 students.

Vanderbilt administration told The Tennessean in a recent statement that the “student-led effort to pass a resolution proposing Vanderbilt Student Government adopt boycott, divestment and sanctions tactics did not move forward because of potential conflict with federal and state laws.”

The statement said any activity relating to boycotts from the university could make the university “ineligible for new state contracts and could have existing contracts voided.”

When asked if the university had interceded on student voting efforts before, the university said they “(do) not typically intercede on VSG ballots.”

More: Free speech fight: How the Israel-Hamas war is roiling colleges in Tennessee and beyond

The student protest lasted 22 hours, ending early Wednesday morning.

On Tuesday afternoon, a reporter with the Nashville Scene was detained and removed from the campus while reporting on the activity. Local media were warned not to enter Kirkland Hall but in a video posted to social media, the reporter said he wasn't warned about staying off campus.

In a statement Tuesday afternoon, the university said the "reporter was attempting to enter Kirkland Hall, an administrative building. … He was informed by university police that the building was closed and was asked to leave several times. After repeated attempts to enter the building, he was detained."

D. Patrick Rodgers, the Scene's editor-in-chief, called Vanderbilt's actions disappointing and said he was proud of the news organization's team covering the protests.

"It's alarming and disappointing that Vanderbilt University — with so many eyes on them as a result of ongoing student protests — would an arrest a reporter in the process of doing his job," Rodgers said in a statement.

Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk said his office "will not prosecute a reporter for peacefully doing his or her job."

The rest garnered widespread attention from the Nashville community, including from The Future of Free Speech project, a nonpartisan think tank located at Vanderbilt University.

"We do not condone the use of violence or trespassing as a protected form of protest and would encourage students to demonstrate peacefully in accordance with Vanderbilt’s policy,” said Jacob Mchangama, the organization's Executive Director. “However, arresting an independent local reporter covering the protest, regardless of his alleged attempts to enter a building without authorization, was a disproportionate response that failed to live up to Vanderbilt’s commitment to free expression and First Amendment ideals."

Vanderbilt in a statement said it values free expression and civil discourse. But the university said it does as a matter of policy "define time, place and manner limitations." Vanderbilt said it takes actions when university policies are violated.

In this case, the university said students breached the main administration building that was closed for construction and "physically assaulted a Community Service Officer to gain entrance and proceeded to push staff members who offered to meet with them."

The university said it took a graduated approach to de-escalation.

Hunter Graves, a student and one of the demonstrators outside Kirkland Hall, confirmed that he was emailed a notice of immediate suspension from the university on Tuesday afternoon "for potential violations of university policy," pending investigation.

Graves said he was the only student at time of publication who was sent a suspension notice who never entered Kirkland Hall. He said a number of other students who were sent suspension notices were all inside the building.

Hours later, Graves was notified that his suspension was lifted — but not the other students.

Conflict roils college campuses

The conflict between Israel and Palestine has long been a hot-button topic on college campuses, including the divestment movement. But since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, the issue become even more contentious.

Sam Schulman, a sophomore at Vanderbilt University and member of the divestment coalition, spoke with The Tennessean by telephone from inside the chancellor’s office, where he had been sitting since 9 a.m.

“They gave us an ultimatum an hour and a half ago that we had fifteen minutes to leave, but we’re still here!” he said. “The Chancellor saw us this morning and immediately left. … Spirits are good up here. We’re not scared, we’re not deterred. Our demands are clear — we want the right to vote.”

Over the weekend, a number of faculty members voiced their support for the student referendum, with 34 Vanderbilt faculty signing a letter in support of the students.

“We, the undersigned faculty, are deeply troubled by the Vanderbilt administration’s decision to suppress a referendum for the adoption of a Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) amendment to Vanderbilt Student Government’s constitution,” the statement read. “We write to affirm the right of students to participate in the BDS movement, to advocate for Palestinian rights on campus, and to engage in student governance free of administration interference.“The recent decision to remove the BDS referendum from the upcoming VSG ballot is a step in the wrong direction. We condemn this suppression of student democracy and demand that the ballot referendum be reinstated.”

The USA Today Network - Tennessee's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners.

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt faces backlash after pulling Israel-divestment student vote