By MARTIN WEIL,
Washington Post
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Arrests were underway early Monday at a pro-Palestinian protest at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, the school said. “They are being made,” a school spokesman said in an email early Monday. The numbers of those arrested and of those demonstrating could not be learned immediately. Posts on X indicated that hundreds were demonstrating and that several had been arrested.
By LUKE WEIR,
Roanoke Times
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Pro-Palestinian protesters linked arms to protect Muslim participants during late afternoon prayers at Virginia Tech, minutes after student organizers warned of a potential police crackdown during a third day of demonstrations on Sunday. Hundreds participated and more people watched as chants continued outside the Graduate Life Center on campus in Blacksburg. Around 10:30 p.m. Sunday, police were setting up a perimeter and warning anyone inside it to leave or be arrested, including media. Buses with police officers were arriving.
By ROLYNN WILSON,
WRIC-TV
Virginia Senator Mark Warner is weighing in as students at Virginia Tech become the first at a major university in the Commonwealth to set up an encampment to protest Israel’s military action in Gaza.
According to Virginia Tech, a group of pro-Palestinian protestors from the university community gathered on campus and placed tents on the lawn at the Graduate Life Center. School officials say the small gathering was not affiliated with the university or a registered university event.
By JOSHUA BARLOW,
WTOP
Twelve people protesting the war in Gaza, including nine students, were arrested at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on Saturday after those individuals refused to vacate an area around Jefferson Square, according to the university president.
In a message to the college community, UMW President Troy Paino said that after safety concerns arose during the afternoon on Friday, participants in the protest were told that encampments and tents would not be permitted as part of the demonstration.
By JOEY LOMONACO,
Fredericksburg Free Press
At least 12 people — including several University of Mary Washington students — were arrested Saturday evening as police from descended upon an encampment in Jefferson Square that was previously disbanded on Friday night.
However, students from the university’s Students for Justice in Palestine organization re-staked their tents on Saturday afternoon, and at 5:39 p.m., SJP president Amirah Ahmed sent a Free Press reporter a two-word text message: “they’re arresting.”
An Instagram live feed from UMW’s SJP showed at least three students being led away from the square in handcuffs by UMW Police officers, while a mix of students, faculty and community members looked on. Troopers from the Virginia State Police were also on the scene.
By PATRICIA MAZZEI,
New York Times
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Amid a dizzying array of standoffs involving pro-Palestinian demonstrations and encampments at colleges, schools that cracked down on protesters over the weekend have given varying justifications for their actions, while others sent mixed signals with their inaction.
Behind it all was a central question confronting university leaders across the country: When does a demonstration cross the line?
Colleges have cited property damage, outside provocateurs, antisemitic expressions or just failures to heed warnings as reasons to clear encampments and arrest students. Student groups have strongly denied or questioned many of those claims.
By JASON ARMESTO,
Daily Progress
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An anonymous University of Virginia parent has accused two professors and one student of antisemitism for organizing an Israel-Palestine film series. Organizers, however, say the series was specifically designed to show balanced perspectives. It alternated between screening movies from Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers. The accusation is one of many listed in a document compiled by multiple UVa parents, which outlines a wide range of reported antisemitic incidents they say have occurred on UVa Grounds since Israel’s war against Palestinian terrorist group Hamas began in October of last year.
By SAM SCHAFFER,
Virginian-Pilot
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William & Mary will increase tuition for the second year in a row after years of the price remaining the same.
Tuition will increase by 2.5% for in-state undergraduate students and by 3.3% for out-of-state undergraduate students for fiscal years 2025 and 2026, according to a resolution passed by the W&M Board of Visitors on Friday.
