Pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel protesters were true to the word that they would “see you at Reunions” when they briefly held up Princeton University’s signature P-Rade of alumni May 25.
The protesters, whose encampment was dismantled May 15 after three weeks on McCosh Courtyard and Cannon Green on the Princeton University campus, had hinted that they would be back at the university’s Reunions celebration, according to published reports.
The annual Reunions celebration, which brings back Princeton University alumni for three days of festivities, is held a few days before the annual graduation ceremony for the senior class.
The P-Rade is a tradition in which alumni, organized by the graduating class, march through the campus in a parade. It begins at FitzRandolph Gate in front of Nassau Hall and continues on Elm Drive.
As the alumni classes walked down Elm Drive during the P-Rade May 25, about 30 pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel protesters charged into the middle of the road and sat down, arms linked together, according to The Daily Princetonian.
University officials immediately handed written arrest warnings to the protesters, which included current students and alumni. The protesters stood up and went back to the sidelines, where they continued to chant and held up signs and Palestinian flags.
The protesters had kicked off their Reunions-weekend protest earlier in the day by tossing red dye into the reflecting pond outside of Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, according to The Daily Princetonian.
They used red spray paint to write “Pretty Town Bloody Gown” on the columns of Robertson Hall at the School of Public and International Affairs on Washington Road. Workers attempted to remove the graffiti and resorted to covering the vandalism with white poster boards.
Protesters also attempted to disrupt Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber’s annual address to alumni at Richardson Auditorium, according to published reports in The Daily Princetonian and Princeton Alumni Weekly.
Several protesters raised their hands, which were covered in red paint, as Eisgruber spoke. They left after a few minutes and continued their protest outside – but not before one protester stood up in the auditorium and shouted that “we are complicit in genocide,” according to The Daily Princetonian.
The protester who shouted was escorted out of Richardson Auditorium by Princeton University Department of Public Safety officers, according to Princeton Alumni Weekly.
Eisgruber said in response that protest is okay, but disruption is not. He acknowledged that protest is an important part of what happens on a college campus as people move through this stage of their lives, according to Princeton Alumni Weekly.
“But on the other hand, if people are taking over buildings, if they are vandalizing property, or if they are making it impossible for us to have a discussion, then at that point we need to take action,” Eisgruber said.
“Under those circumstances, we cannot have the discussions that are important.”
Eisgruber may have been referring to the attempted take-over of Clio Hall by protesters during the first few days of the pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel sit-in, and the vandalism at the School of Public and International Affairs.
A similar take-over of an academic building and vandalism by protesters occurred at Columbia University.
