Sarah Dajani ’26
Opinion Editor
Bold, independent thinkers who lead transformative lives – more like boldly led subjects who cannot transform the school beyond admin’s interpretation of the school Bible – the holy Student Handbook.
Trinity claims to prepare students to lead transformative lives, catchy! So, how would you expect Trinity’s students to act if, hypothetically, a significant portion of us, the bold, independent thinkers in progress, had a set of transformative demands for our administration and Board of Trustees?
As you are hopefully able to tell, this story is not so hypothetical. For over a year, more than 350 students, 70 faculty members and 20 student organizations have been calling on Trinity admin to fulfill their commitment to their students and achieve a set of demands, among them disclosure and divestment from Israeli apartheid and weapon manufacturing companies that enable its genocide in Gaza.
As one of the non-hypothetical students, I will provide a brief timeline of our attempt at being the bold independent thinkers who are trying to lead transformative lives. Since October 2023, Palestinian, Arab and Muslim students have been under unprecedented neglect and tone deaf communication from our administration. In December 2023, as students were chanting for a free Palestine outside of the President’s office, the president agreed to meet with a group of representatives, marking the commencement of a set of excruciatingly unproductive meetings. Throughout the spring semester, there were several protests and events with a focus on justice in Palestine. On May 1, Trinity joined the national call for disclosure and divestment by marching from Gates Quad to the Main Quad where we set up our encampment. We decamped once we reached an agreement with the administration to meet with the Board of Trustees. If you are an avid follower of updates from the Student Coalition for Justice in Palestine, you would know that the long agreed upon meeting with the investment subcommittee was canceled less than 24 hours prior.
This marks a new low point in disappointing responses and complete lack of professionalism and disrespect the admin have shown to students and their demands. The group of representatives took this meeting in good faith and spent relentless hours in preparation, while the administration chose to wait until we reached out to them to cancel at the very last minute. This shameful tactic conveniently ‘prevented’ the investment subcommittee from considering our demands before their October meeting. This brings us to the manifestation of Trinity’s support for free speech. Later, Trinity CFO Dan Hitchell informed us that the Board of Trustees has gracefully given this whole complex Palestine issue, 20 minutes of their valuable time during their visit to campus. On Oct. 17, the same group of students who have been preparing relentlessly since September, gave an impeccable presentation before members of the investment subcommittee. The members in attendance took no notes and asked no questions, at some points they scrolled through their phones instead. At the end of the meeting, we exchanged thanks and stared at each other for a few moments before Hitchell escorted us out of the room.
In anticipation of student activism during the trustees’ stay, Vice President for Student Success and Enrollment Management, Joe DiChristina, met with student representatives on Oct. 16 (as part of a series of things you do when ensuring free speech on your campus). His only ask was for protestors to not be inside the library during the trustees meetings.
On Friday, Oct. 18, over 50 students held a protest (I will leave this space for you to envisage what that looks like) during the Trustees dinner, calling for disclosure and divestment. The protest displayed the beauty of this community we formed on campus. We chanted and sang freedom songs outside of Hamlin Hall. We chose Hamlin Hall and wore glow bracelets to honor the legacy of those who protested that same dinner during anti-South African apartheid organizing at Trinity. While DiChristina did complain about noise levels at various points, there was no request for the students not to engage in protest or that sanctions would follow if we were to continue.
On Wednesday, Oct. 23, 12 students received emails demanding we appear for a disciplinary hearing within less than 24 hours and without any campus member with formal legal training. One of those 12 students was not present at the protest! Trinity’s careful process for identifying participants at the Friday protest involved going through names of students who attended other pro-Palestinian events in the Tripod. The other 11 students were accused of violating social code #4: “Refusal to comply with a legitimate request or order of a College official or a campus safety officer” and social code #9: “Disruption of the orderly processes of the College, involving obstruction or interference with teaching, research, administration, disciplinary proceedings, or other College activities.” That same day,Hitchell forwarded a message from James Yu and Lisa Bisaccia on behalf of the investment subcommittee, informing us that they need more time to consider “arguments for and against disclosure and divestment.” So, as student organizers were being rushed into “informal” meetings where the only rules that apply are the admin’s interpretation of the student handbook, the same student organizers were asked to recognize the need for sufficient time to consider arguments for and against issues of “complex nature,” that is, telling the student body whether Trinity is invested in a list of companies recognized by the United Nations to be committing war crimes.
This embarrassing process was followed by a series of shameful emails from DiChristina, outlining to student organizers how to protest. This involved banning silently holding signs at events, chanting inside or outside of the event and placing signs anywhere that can be seen in the event, i.e., windows. Throughout this mess, student organizers were meeting with Dean Robert P. Lukaskiewicz and Assistant Dean Dr. John L. Selders Jr for their disciplinary hearings. All the 11 students who were at the protest received admonitions. It was noted that this is not a serious outcome, although further violations will incur harsher consequences.
In my meeting, Dean Rob emphasized that this disciplinary process is prompted by violating policies in the student handbook, and is not in opposition to the message we were trying to communicate during our Friday protest. To this I ask: why are student organizers who are focused on justice in Palestine, receiving a set of new customized rules from the administration? Why are these rules not available to the whole student body? Not only that: There has been a complaint from President Joanne Berger-Sweeney about such emails being posted on social media. Is there any explanation to such complaints that avoids admitting that admin is targeting pro-Palestinian speech? I believe the questions posed here reflect bold, independent, transformative thinking. But unless Trinity’s mission is to suppress free speech for its students to start asking such questions, I do not see how Trinity is committed to its mission.
In light of the above listed embarrassments, we demand disclosure and divestment, answers to the posed questions and a reassessment of Trinity’s stance on pro-Palestinian speech on its campus.
Trinity didn’t “suppress free speech for its students to start asking questions”, Trinity told it students to stop being intentionally annoying. It’s one thing to make your point of view known, it’s another thing to keep whining when you find out others do not share your point of view. Like for example, some don’t like what you’re doing with the Tripod but you don’t see anyone putting signs in your window.
Let me point out the obvious: You are currently protesting on stolen land. Native Americans among the poorest in the world, have the worst health outcomes in the country and indigenous women are disappearing at alarming rates. But you don’t care about that. Why? Because you might have to acknowledge your own complicity and lack of interest. You don’t get to enjoy your performative outrage. You’d go from judge and jury to guilty. PS: As for Israel, you can’t colonize a land where you have always been.