Thousands were arrested at college protests. For students, the fallout was only beginning
AMHERST, Massachusetts — Since her arrest during a protest at the University of Massachusetts, Annie McGrew has been torn between two hearings: one for the misdemeanor charges she faces and the other for violations of the university’s code of conduct.
It prevented the student from completing her dissertation on economics.
“It’s been a really tough few months for me since my arrest,” McGrew said. “I never thought the UMass (administration) would react the way it did.”
This spring, some 3,200 people were arrested during a wave of pro-Palestinian tent camps protest against the war in GazaWhile some colleges ended the demonstrations by eye-catching deals Others kept in touch with the students or simply waited for them to leave. Others called the police when the protesters refused to leave.
Many students have already seen those charges dropped. But cases have yet to be resolved for hundreds of people on campuses that saw the highest number of arrests, according to an analysis of data collected by The Associated Press and partner newsrooms.
In addition to the legal limbo, these students face uncertainty in their academic careers. Some remain steadfast, saying they would have made the same decision to protest even if they had known the consequences. Others are struggling with the aftermath of the arrests and questioning whether they should even remain at the university.
In St. Louis, Valencia Alvarez awaits the outcome of possible charges she and 99 others could face for an April 27 protest that lasted less than half a day at Washington University.
Twenty-three of those arrested were students. In June, the university gave them two options: they could face a hearing with the Office of Student Conduct, or they could “accept responsibility” and waive further investigation. Alvarez chose the first option.
“I don’t intend to remain silent about this, and I think that’s the purpose of the second option,” Alvarez said.
The demonstrations public and private universities floodedOn campuses large and small, in cities and rural areas. As students return this fall, colleges are bracing for more protests against both the Israeli military and Hamas, and strategizing over tactics, including when to call in police — decisions that have had lasting repercussions.
Some school leaders said calling police was the only option to end the protests that were blocking the school. graduation ceremoniesdisrupted campus life and included cases of antisemitic signs and language.
Student groups and some faculty members have criticized college leaders for inviting police inside their gates, saying police operations often crushed peaceful demonstrations with unnecessary force.
The vast majority of cases against protesters — ranging from students and faculty to those with no ties to the colleges — involve misdemeanors or lower-level charges, including trespassing, failure to disperse, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
More serious charges were filed against protesters who occupied a Columbia University campus building, where some were initially arrested on trespassing charges. Those were downgraded to misdemeanors, and dozens of students Their charges have been dropped. In a decision criticized by Jewish groups, prosecutors said there was a lack of evidence linking them to acts of property destruction, and that none of the students had a criminal history.
Prosecutors in several cities are still considering whether to file charges. But in many cases, officials have indicated they do not plan to prosecute low-level offenses, according to AP’s review of data on campuses with at least 100 arrests.
In upstate New York, the Ulster County district attorney has asked judges to dismiss 129 cases stemming from arrests at the State University of New York at New Paltz.
“I have concluded that it is best to drop these charges now and relieve all parties involved and the courts from further burdens, costs and expenditure of scarce public and judicial resources,” District Attorney Emmanuel Nneji wrote in June.
Students from New Paltz said they were left with their arms linked together when officers pulled them away on May 2.
“It was handled very brutally,” said Maddison Tirado, a student whose trespassing charges were dropped. Tirado said protesters were treated as if authorities saw them “as little terrorists running around.”
One student who protested, Ezra Baptist, said he was taken to the hospital with a concussion and a cut after he was thrown forward and hit his head during his arrest by state troopers. He had to avoid looking at screens because of his injury and was unable to complete a class he needed to graduate in May.
State police said if anyone believes officers have behaved inappropriately, they should file a complaint so it can be investigated. Another law enforcement agency on the scene, the county sheriff’s office, said officers were reluctant and one officer was injured when protesters threw bottles.
Tensions on university campuses have been running high since October 7, when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking about 250 hostages. The Israeli offensive has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities.
For some students, the impact on their academic career is greater than any legal threat.
At Washington University, hearings for arrested students have recently begun, but they have not yet resulted in disciplinary decisions. Meanwhile, Alvarez does not have the master’s degree in public health she would have had she not been arrested.
Alvarez, who hopes to focus on social justice and community organizing, said she has no regrets. But that doesn’t mean the protest hasn’t come at a cost.
“I want that degree,” Alvarez said. “I worked four jobs during my two years at Wash U to pay my tuition without taking out loans.”
At Emerson College in Boston, 118 people were arrested when police were asked to enforce a city ordinance against camping on public property. All were charged with disturbing the peace and given a “pre-arraignment diversion,” meaning no charges will be filed in exchange for 40 hours of community service, prosecutors said.
Owen Buxton, an Emerson student, said he suffered a concussion when police pushed him into a bronze statue. It was his second arrest of the semester for protesting the war in Gaza. The experience made it difficult for him to concentrate or participate in class.
“It stifled all my creativity — I didn’t make anything for months, which is not typical of me,” said Buxton, a filmmaker.
Emerson gave students permission to pass or fail the semester after outrage over the arrests.
A Boston Police Department spokesman said anyone with concerns can file complaints with the internal affairs office. The department previously said no injuries were reported during Emerson’s arrests.
On the UMass campus in Amherst, students recalled a peaceful demonstration with singing and dancing before police arrived. It was the second tent encampment students had set up that week. UMass Chancellor Javier Reyes said he ordered the cleanup after talks with protesters broke down.
“Let me be clear: calling the police is the absolute last resort,” Reyes wrote to the campus community.
The police operation, with 117 police vehicles on campus, sent protesters into a frenzy. McGrew recalls seeing police in riot gear charging into the crowd of students. A total of 134 people were arrested.
As the detainees were being processed into the university’s sports arena, doctoral student Charles Sullivan, who is transgender, said they felt humiliated by campus police. One officer, Sullivan said, forced them to describe their genitals out loud to gain access to a restroom.
Sullivan has since decided to leave the university to continue his education, in part because of the arrest. Sullivan is completing a master’s degree in anthropology and will move to Ohio in the fall to pursue a Ph.D., rather than continuing at UMass.
“I think I’m just ready to get out of here,” Sullivan said.
Many campus organizations have criticized Reyes for deploying police, including the UMass Faculty Council, which passed a vote of no confidence in the chancellor.
In June, Reyes announced a task force to review campus policies regarding protests, including land-use policies that many of those arrested were alleged to have violated.
The group is just beginning its work, said Anthony Paik, a faculty council member and task force co-chair. More information is expected by the end of August, he said, just before the start of the new school year.
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Associated Press journalists Jake Offenhartz in New York, Michael Hill in Albany, New York, and Michael Melia in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.