Hundreds of people protested along Vanderbilt University’s campus Wednesday, calling for the school to reverse the suspensions of 27 student protesters.
The university issued the suspensions last week for a pro-Palestinian sit-in at Kirkland Hall, while the administration building remained closed to the public during ongoing construction.
During the demonstration last Monday, Vanderbilt police arrested a Nashville Scene reporter covering the event.
Protesters marching from Centennial Park met protesters on campus near where Scene reporter Eli Motycka had been arrested. One member of the crowd used chalk to mark a line between the pubic sidewalk and Vanderbilt’s private property, with the phrase “free speech ends here.”
The protest has moved to the edge of Vanderbilt’s campus with police blocking off part of West End for demonstrators. pic.twitter.com/qKTnEfRtvF
— Marianna Bacallao (@MariannaBac) April 3, 2024
The protest last week called on Vanderbilt to let students vote on a referendum that would divest student government funds from companies seen as complicit in genocide against the Palestinian people.
Marianna Bacallao WPLN NewsStudents barred from Vanderbilt’s campus protest on the public sidewalk outside the university.
“I’m tired,” said one of the students suspended for the Kirkland Hall sit-in. “I’m tired of being scared for myself, for my friends. I’m tired of sleeping outdoors on our campus in the cold. But … it is not the time to rest. We will shrug off fatigue. We will defy fear. And you will stand in the heart of the empire, in front of the ivory towers built on the backs of slaves on the land of Tennessee’s indigenous nations, with the money that murdered Palestinian children in cold blood. We stand here to tell Vanderbilt University and to tell the city of Nashville that we are not leaving.”
Vanderbilt alumni marched alongside current students. Jane Steinsfels-Hussain held a sign, quoting Vanderbilt University Chancellor Daniel Diermeier in a Forbes article, “Like judges, universities don’t always get it right. And when they deviate from the governing principle of fairness, they need to be criticized and held accountable.”
Marianna Bacallao WPLN NewsJane Steinfels-Hussain holds a sign, quoting Vanderbilt’s Chancellor.
Steinsfels-Hussain told WPLN News that she disagrees with how Diermeier is treating students.
“It’s a really cruel punishment,” she said. “To kick them off campus, to keep them from eating in the cafeteria when they’re supposed to be coming to classes. I feel ashamed to be part of the Vanderbilt community. So, I’m here to tell the Vanderbilt administration to really revise their thinking.”
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