UPenn students return to campus after protest crackdown
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The University of Pennsylvania starts its fall term today under renewed pressure to prevent campus disruptions after the school became a flashpoint of unrest over the war in Gaza last spring.
The big picture: Students and universities are preparing for a reinvigorated pro-Palestinian protest movement.
- College administrations, many of which struggled to balance the right to protest with student safety last year, will be under increased scrutiny over how they respond.
State of play: UPenn resumes fall classes this week under a new policy that bans campus encampments and overnight demonstrations.
- Serious or repeated violations of the university's guidelines could lead to suspensions and other disciplinary action.
Catch up quick: Penn was among several schools that cracked down on student-led protests in the spring, calling in police to arrest students and clear encampments.
- University administrations faced criticism for involving local law enforcement and instituting academic punishments on students.
- Prosecutors declined to pursue cases against four pro-Palestinian protesters arrested on UPenn's campus last May.
- The university didn't respond to Axios' request about the status of some students temporarily banned from campus.
Between the lines: Across the country, critics have called some of the protests antisemitic, and said that they've led to harassment of some Jewish students, Axios' Russell Contreras writes. On some campuses, though, Jewish students and other minority groups have been among those organizing protests.
- Concerns about allegations of antisemitism on campus have prompted congressional probes.
- Former UPenn president Liz Magill resigned last December after widely criticized testimony during a congressional hearing in which she and other Ivy League presidents defended their responses to incidents of antisemitism.
The latest: Republican U.S. House members sent a letter to interim UPenn president Larry Jameson last week demanding that the university outline the "concrete measures" it'll employ this year to prevent more "antisemitic chaos" from interrupting classes.
- House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith and Education and Workforce Committee Chair Virginia Foxx sent similar letters to eight other institutions, including Harvard and MIT.
- They gave UPenn until Sept. 5 to respond to their request.
What they're saying: Smith and Foxx wrote that UPenn "must be prepared for the organized efforts directed at Jewish students" to "come roaring back to life" when students return to campus.
- A UPenn spokesperson didn't respond to Axios' request to comment on the letter.