Pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered Friday night in front of Henderson Hall at Virginia Tech, marking the start of the new school year with renewed calls to end the war in Gaza.
The crowd of more than 70 people carried Palestinian flags and signs saying “Free Palestine,” and they called for an embargo to stem the supply of U.S. weapons to Israel.
Since the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks by Hamas in Israel, some Virginia Tech students and faculty have pushed for an official university statement condemning the violence that followed in Gaza and for it to acknowledge suppression of Palestinian students and their allies. They also have called for the university to divest from any investments in Israeli interests.
Shahed Sanuri, one of the student leaders of the protest, said Friday night’s event will be one of many to come. She encouraged her peers to join her; the protesters want to keep things peaceful, she said, and to educate others about what’s happening in Gaza.
“There is still an ongoing genocide in Gaza; it’s been more severe than ever,” Sanuri said. “We are still going to show up and bring awareness to the community and the public about what’s going on in Palestine.
“We won’t stop the fight. … We will continue to show up.”
The protest, which had started at 8 p.m., dispersed at 9:30. Organizers announced a community picnic in front of the Graduate Life Center lounge at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
Friday night’s gathering marks a continuation of protests held on the campus this spring. Eighty-two people were arrested by Virginia Tech police in late April following a three-day pro-Palestinian encampment on the lawn of the Graduate Life Center. About two-thirds of the people arrested were students at Tech.
The encampment had begun on a Friday afternoon and stretched until late Sunday, April 28.
Protester accounts claimed that the group complied with early requests from campus police to take down tents that had been set up on the lawn, and that police seemed content to let the group stay on site indefinitely. But the protesters were abruptly told on the afternoon of April 28 to break down the camp.
When the protesters remained around 10:30 p.m. after attempts to negotiate with university officials, campus police began arresting participants on trespassing charges.
The next day, Virginia Tech President Tim Sands released a letter stating: “While I am grateful the incident was resolved peacefully by Virginia Tech Police, I was saddened by the way our officers were treated. I am also deeply disappointed to see members of our community choose uncivil and unlawful behavior over purposeful engagement in difficult conversations and robust debate that should be part of the Virginia Tech experience.”
Protesters responded to the letter and statements from university officials by holding a press conference later that week. They said that representatives of student groups including Students for Peace and Justice in Palestine, the Muslim Student Association, the Middle Eastern and North African Student Association had repeatedly asked for Sands to address ongoing violence in Gaza without satisfaction, and vowed to continue to pressure the state-run university to divest from Israeli interests.
Camping on university property is now explicitly prohibited, as is overnight use of university property that isn’t designated for sleeping (such as a residence hall), according to the newest version of Policy 5000, which spells out rules for events and use of university property. That policy, dated July 31, also specifies that individuals wearing masks must present personal identification if asked by a university official.
The student code of conduct now states that “Virginia Tech reserves the right to address any behavior or act that potentially violates local, state, or federal law.”
That update was approved by the board of visitors as part of its consent agenda — meaning it wasn’t discussed — during its meeting on Aug. 28. The policy already stated that the university may pursue disciplinary action in response to conduct that violates both criminal law and the code of conduct, regardless of whether criminal punishment is pursued.
During his remarks during the board of visitors meeting on Aug. 28, Virginia Tech President Tim Sands said the school will “continue to provide venues for constructive and respectful dialogue” about divisive issues. He indicated more information would be forthcoming about “structured conversations that will build toward getting people in the same room,” but he didn’t address the pro-Palestinian protests that took place during the previous academic year.
The April encampment at Virginia Tech occurred around the same time as several other campus protests at Virginia colleges that ended in arrests.
That same weekend, nine students were arrested at a similar encampment at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg. At Virginia Commonwealth University, six students were among 13 people arrested for trespassing.
Then, in early May, 25 people were arrested at a protest at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.
Most of the UVa cases were dismissed under a deferred prosecution agreement that dropped the charges if the defendants paid a fine and stayed out of trouble for three months.
Charges against the Mary Washington students were dropped at the university’s request.
In Blacksburg, arrestees were offered a pre-trial diversion program that required a $99 fee and 25 hours of community service to be completed within a year.
Freelance journalist Quincy Allen contributed information to this report.
