BAR HARBOR, Maine — Students at the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor set up an on-campus encampment Sunday, standing in solidarity with Palestinian people as violence in Israel and Palestine continues.
Demonstrations nationwide shed light on civil unrest and division concerning the issue.
COA students are calling for an end to what they say is an ongoing genocide.
About 75 students participated in the encampment at the college, and the students collaborated as a group to determine their demands from the school and its administration.
Students said they are demanding the school denounce what they call a genocide against Palestinian people and divest from weapon manufacturing, surveillance, tech, and other companies they believe profit from the ongoing violence.
Nearly 40 of the students from the encampment have been camping overnight, which totals about 10 percent of the student population.
As tensions in the Middle East continue to exacerbate, students said they feel it is important to take a stand. Although students have been very vocal with administration about their concerns, they said they are being cautious with reporters and media.
Students asked NEWS CENTER Maine to protect their identities and not to shoot video that shows their full faces. Students also asked NEWS CENTER Maine not to share their full names and to only use their initials.
Student S. J. F. read from the official press release that participating students sent to the college and the community explaining what they are standing against.
"Standing against discrimination, oppression, and violence means standing with Palestine," S. J. F. said. "As students at an educational institution in the U.S., we feel the responsibility to protest the bombing and demolition of schools and colleges in Gaza."
Students told NEWS CENTER Maine there is a level of distrust with the media. They have not done any formal interviews with any newspaper or media outlet but said they have been approached by people without knowing that they were being recorded.
Student F.O. said he is careful of who he allows in his space and who he speaks with for interviews. He said he often feels like reporters arrive at the encampment with a preconceived notion, spinning his words and not reporting truthful information.
"If the person I'm talking to already has the story they're going to tell and the way they're going to spin it, then it's not going to be my words the way that I say them that are reported," F. O. said.
After spending time at the encampment, students agreed to interview with NEWS CENTER Maine, despite declining interviews with other stations.
Students said they prioritize the safety of everyone in the encampment, being sure to warn each other that their decisions to protest may result in retaliation from the public, forcing them to keep their heads on a swivel.
The college's president Darron Collins said he has set guidelines for the students who chose to participate in the encampment. Collins said people who are not COA students are prohibited from camping overnight at the encampment site.
He also said students must protect college property, and he emphasized that all antisemitic, Islamophobic, and hate speech of any kind is prohibited and will not be tolerated.
Collins added this is not the time to choose sides, but rather to support the student body's right to free speech and protest.
"Don't try and break the world down into pro-Israel and pro-Palestine," Collins said. "It's just very, very much more complex than that, and starting from that base of understanding the complexity is the base of making sure peaceful protest can be effective. Unequivocally we support the students' right to peaceful protest."
One student said she feels when people see her participate in a protest that calls for an end to violence against Palestinians, people try to label her as antisemitic. She said the last thing that she wants if for people to think that she supports violence against Jews, and she explained that standing for Palestinian rights should not be conflated with antisemitism.
For students like M. K., this protest is a plea for people to pay attention to the way she believes colonialism and the exploitation of people in the global south, Palestine, and even in the Democratic Republic of the Congo impact everyone.
"I'm out here right now, you know, with the solidarity encampment for Palestine, but that's not to say that this isn't interconnected with so many other issues that other people are facing," M. K. said.
A student participating in the encampment said the protest at the College of the Atlantic is different from demonstrations at other schools because administration is at least open to hearing their concerns.
Collins said two students from the encampment will meet with the college's investment committee and administration about their concerns next week.
Here is the official press release issued by students participating in the encampment:
The COA Palestine Solidarity Encampment issues the following statement to express solidarity with the people of Palestine and to advocate for concrete actions in support of justice and human rights:
What do we stand for?
We are so grateful for all those on campus and beyond who have supported and engaged with us. Our Palestine Solidarity Encampment has emerged from the desire to stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine and all college or university students, staff, and faculty members who face violence by their institutions and law enforcement as they take action against the ongoing genocide.
We believe that standing against discrimination, oppression, and violence means standing with Palestine. As students at an educational institution in the US we feel the responsibility to protest the bombing and demolition of schools and colleges in Gaza. Access to a demilitarized education is a human right for all.
We recognize our privilege of being able to pursue an education when universities in Gaza no longer exist, and acknowledge our right to peacefully protest while others are met with violence. We encourage each and every member of our COA community to gather, share, have conversations, and learn from one another during this devastating time.
What are our demands for the administration of COA?
In light of the actions COA is currently taking to safeguard our right to protest, we present the following demands:
COA continues to protect our community’s right to freedom of speech and right to protest indefinitely
COA publicly denounces the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.
COA discloses their investments.
COA as an institution prioritizes divestment from all weapon manufacturing, surveillance and tech, and construction companies that are profiting from the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.
Further information:
The encampment was set up in the evening of Sunday, April 28th.
The encampment currently has 27 tents set up.
Around 20% of the student body (~75 students) is engaged with the protest.
Currently the encampment is not an academic strike.
There is no defined end date to the encampment.
Anyone is more than welcome to visit the encampment during the day, however COA administration has requested that non-COA community members refrain from camping onsite.
For media inquiries or further information, please contact: coaencampment@gmail.com.
On Thursday, College of the Atlantic President Dr. Darron Collins also shared the following statement.
"Since the founding days of College of the Atlantic, peaceful protest has been a cornerstone of human ecology; thus, it is no surprise that students are leading the charge here to engage in an encampment. The COA administration wholeheartedly supports our students’ rights to engage in this act of protest and free speech.
There are a few things I have asked students to take into consideration during the encampment.
● The COA administration is bound to prioritize, as always, public health and safety for COA and surrounding communities, and I am hopeful that participants will consider that their responsibility as well. We will be keeping a close, friendly, and collaborative eye on how things unfold.
● It’s important that participants are thoughtful about trash, use of the bathroom, water, and etc. I ask everyone involved to take great care to minimize negative impacts on campus property and infrastructure.
● Faculty will not be asked or required to accommodate absence from classes. With graduation five weeks away, it is imperative that students are able to complete their coursework. With this in mind, peaceful protests may not interfere with classes.
● Most importantly, as an academic institution, we pride ourselves on challenging our own assumptions and thoughts, as well as those around us. However, any form of hate speech–displayed on a sign, clothing, or otherwise, or voiced verbally, will not be tolerated. We all have to be vigilant and cognizant about that sometimes translucent line between challenging someone’s beliefs and threatening their identity, and avoid the latter at all costs.
● Overnight participation in the student encampment must remain limited to members of the COA campus community.
Our COA community must always remain a welcoming, inclusive one, with room for all civil perspectives on complicated issues like the ones we face today. As a college, our position is one in support of freedom of speech, political expression, and the choice to engage in civil disobedience. We would provide similar support for any students who were looking to express
their perspectives on important issues. Here at COA, I fully expect that a broad and diverse set of viewpoints and civil expressions of such could, and would, exist peacefully side-by-side.
Students in the encampment acknowledged our support of their right to protest and issued a set of demands to the college on April 30 that include making a statement and exploring divestment. I have responded with several points:
● We are fortunate at COA to have a mechanism for stating formal positions of the community through our All College Meeting, and this path is available to these students to explore making such a statement.
● Questions of investment within our endowment are ultimately decided by the Board of Trustees, but can also be influenced by our governance process, and that is an applicable route to explore. Students taking part in the encampment met last week with our CFO on this topic, and they have been invited to join the trustee’s Investment Committee meeting next week to discuss this issue further.
● The verb “demand” has surfaced a lot in the case of other colleges and their encampments, but it isn’t necessarily appropriate in our context. Our governance system is set up to provide collaborative channels so we don’t have to use demands, decrees, or edicts to make change here at COA."