Following IU Police Department and Indiana State Police officers’ forcible arrests of 56 protesters April 25 and 27 at pro-Palestinian encampments in Dunn Meadow, student and advocacy organizations have released statements condemning IU and ISP’s actions.
Student Voice Coalition
An April 26 press release from the Student Voice Coalition, made up of IU Student Government, the Indiana Memorial Union Board, the Graduate and Professional Student Government, IU Funding Board and the Residence Hall Association, spoke out against the actions of University Administration at Dunn Meadow on April 25.
“The Student Voice Coalition denounces the unilateral action taken by the Provost and University administration,” the release said.
The original policy on Dunn Meadow assembly from 1969 recommended a committee to “give continuing advice on changes of policy” could be composed of the President of IUSA, now known as IUSG, the President pro tem of the Bloomington Faculty Council and a member picked by the provost.
According to the release, the provost convened an ad hoc committee in response to “external safety concerns,” which did not invite the president of IUSG or the Bloomington Faculty Council.
The night before the encampment began April 25, IU updated the policy to ban the use of structures without prior approval.
“The sudden adjustments made by the ad hoc committee to this policy have raised significant questions regarding constitutional legality and the principle of ‘neutral time, place, and policy’ regarding assembly restrictions,” the release said. “Any revisions to assembly policies must adhere to principles of neutrality and reasonableness as prescribed by First Amendment law. It is imperative to ensure that policy changes uphold fairness, avoid disadvantaging specific groups, and align with both legal standards and university policy.”
They called on the provost to reconvene the ad hoc committee by Monday evening to reconsider this policy change and for IU administration to avoid deploying the ISP. On April 27, the administration sent in the ISP again.
“If our demands are not met, we fear the student body will have no confidence left in this administration,” the release read.
IU Union Board
In addition to the joint statement released by the Student Voice Coalition on April 25, the IU Union Board of Directors released a new statement April 27. The statement specifically denounced IU’s new policy banning structures without prior approval and presence of armed ISP officers and police snipers in the Indiana Memorial Union. The statement said ISP officers walked through the Union’s office with guns.
“This is the antithesis of Union Board’s mission to unite students,” the statement read. “We condemn this policy, its result in silencing student voices and the harm it brought to students and the IU community.”
It also referenced posts on social media that appear to show a police sniper on the roof of the IMU. ISP superintendent Douglas Carter confirmed officers with “sniper capabilities” were on the IMU roof during protests.
The statement said the Union Board was never consulted or notified about ISP setting up on the roof. The Union Board said they were unofficially told that the officer was holding a scope, not a firearm.
“Considering the photos circulating social media, this casual explanation is far from compelling,” the statement read.
The Union Board called for clarity on what happened on the roof, what weapons were in the building, the chain of command through which it occurred and what will be done to prevent it from happening again.
The directors also asked for IU President Pamela Whitten, Provost Rahul Shrivastav and Superintendent of Safety Ben Hunter provide answers to these questions to the Union Board by the end of the day Monday. Union Board President Laurie Frederickson did not immediately respond to request for comment.
“Response to these issues is critical to the 115th Indiana Memorial Union Board’s waning confidence in the administration,” the statement read.
ACLU of Indiana
ACLU of Indiana Executive Director Chris Daley released a statement calling the university and ISP’s forcible arrests April 25. Specifically, the ACLU of Indiana referenced the ISP’s use of force.
It also referenced IU’s creation of a new policy forbidding the use of permanent or temporary structures without approval the day before the encampment began April 25.
“It is further troubling that University officials and Indiana State Police moved in with force only hours after the protest began without any articulation of an imminent risk to public safety,” the statement read. “None of these actions are in line with our nation’s free speech principles.”
Daley said the ACLU of Indiana is also concerned that one-year bans from campus, which were handed out to those arrested, were done so without due process and are “disproportionately severe.” Bryce Greene, one of the leaders of the encampment, Saturday received a five-year ban Saturday following his arrest.
Mark Bode, IU executive director of media relations, sent a statement to the IDS on April 26 in response to an inquiry about arrested students and faculty who were temporarily banned from campus.
“We encourage affected faculty and students to engage in the appeals process by contacting IUPD,” the statement read. “Trespass ban notices will be suspended during the appeals process in nearly all cases. This will allow these students and faculty to complete the semester.”
Some protesters said they have struggled to get in contact with IUPD and the university about appeals.
“It’s been a slow and frustrating process,” one protester said Saturday. “They won’t answer our calls.”
“Public higher education administrators stand on the front lines of free speech in this country; I urge them to use their positions to protect the constitutional rights of everyone on their campuses,” Daley’s statement said.
The national ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero and National Legal Director David Cole also sent an open letter to public and private university leaders about five “guardrails” to preserve free speech and academic freedom on campus. These guardrails include:
- They must not single out particular viewpoints for censorship, discipline, or disproportionate punishment.
- They must protect students from targeted discriminatory harassment and violence, but may not penalize people for taking sides on the war in Gaza, even if expressed in deeply offensive terms.
- They can announce and enforce reasonable content-neutral time, place, or manner policies on protesting activity, but they must leave ample room for students to express themselves. These rules must be applied consistently and without regard to viewpoint.
- They must recognize that armed police on campus can endanger students and are a measure of last resort.
- They must resist the pressures placed on them by politicians seeking to exploit campus tensions.
IU American Association of University Professors
The Executive Committee of the IU AAUP released a statement April 26 referring to the April 25 events as an “egregious violation” of IU’s values and academic freedom principles.
“We call on all Bloomington faculty to condemn Thursday’s actions by the administration, to immediately reverse all university sanctions on those arrested, and to request that all criminal charges be summarily dismissed,” the statement read. “We also call on the Indiana University Board of Trustees to authorize a thorough and independent investigation of the decision making processes that led to Thursday’s outcome, and to demand changes necessary to ensure that such a breach of the university’s principles never be repeated.”
Monroe County NAACP
Monroe County NAACP First Vice President Jim Sims and William Morris, chair of the Legal Redress Committee, released a statement Sunday denouncing the Dunn Meadow encampment arrests.
“All these acts in violation of student rights, civil rights, and human rights have been carried out by an IU administration that now stands against the values of free expression and learning that have characterized Indiana University for over 250 years,” the statement read.
The Monroe County NAACP denounced the protesters’ arrests under these circumstances and demanded IU drop criminal charges, drop disciplinary charges and rescind the campus bans against students.
The Folklore and Ethnomusicology Student Association
The Folklore and Ethnomusicology Student Association executive officers sent an email Tuesday to the department and IU administration condemning the Indiana State Police’s arrest of 56 protesters at the Dunn Meadow encampment April 25 and 27.
They specifically mentioned the arrests and campus bans of faculty and students. David McDonald, chair of the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology, was arrested and charged with criminal trespass April 25.
They also denounced the decision to change long-standing policy permitting the use of structures in Dunn Meadow on April 24, the day before the encampment began.
“We demand an immediate end to excessive police presence and all police violence and legal action against members of our IU community exercising their rights to protest, as well as full amnesty for the students and faculty who have been arrested,” the email read.
They also demanded the removal of ISP officers on IU property, who they said are there “to threaten and intimidate students and faculty in spaces of teaching and learning.”
The officers wrote they demand the resignation of IU President Pamela Whitten, Provost Rahul Shrivastav and Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affair Carrie Docherty. They also called on administration to heed the calls from the IU Divestment Coalition and Palestine Solidarity Committee to disclose IU's investment portfolio, end partnerships with Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division and adhere to Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions guidelines — meaning a full divestment from Israel.
“We stand in solidarity with the numerous other groups in our university community who have issued statements decrying the administration’s sickening use of force at this rally, their attempts to suppress our free speech and their utter contempt for the humanity of the faculty and students for whom this university was built,” the email read.
IU students, faculty and community members
Aidan Moran, an undergraduate student in the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering, sent an email Wednesday signed by 591 students, faculty and other members of the IU community to IU President Pamela Whitten and other administrators. It called for Whitten to resign.
The letter referenced the aggressive arrest of 57 protesters in Dunn Meadow by Indiana State Police last week. It also mentioned the administration’s refusal to negotiate with the Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition for a higher minimum wage and recent no confidence votes from faculty and graduate workers.
“We fully condemn the actions taken by you and the IU administration,” the letter read. “You no longer uphold the values that Indiana University claims to represent. You no longer have the best interest of the students in mind. Therefore, we no longer consider you a welcome part of Indiana University. We can no longer stand by quietly. As the members of Indiana University, we demand your resignation.”
UPDATE: This story has been updated to include an email sent from IU students, faculty and community members to IU President Pamela Whitten.
