With just a few weeks left in the semester, college students nationwide, including in Massachusetts, are standing their ground, and protesting the war in Gaza.
Protests calling for peace continue to pop up across campuses despite local and national leaders calling for their protests to end.
The tents are cleaned up at Emerson College and the encampment is gone. But now more than 100 protesters – many of them Emerson students — are set to go before a judge this week to face charges for not leaving that encampment.
Emerson administrators said no matter the college's position on the Israel-Hamas conflict, they have and will continue to support their students by posting bail, adjusting class schedules, encouraging the district attorney not to pursue charges and assuring students they will not face disciplinary action at school.
Northeastern officials released a letter to their community Monday, two days after an encampment on its campus was broken up by police, with dozens arrested.
The school said in the days leading up to the police response, protesters who were not affiliated with the university had joined the demonstrations, which "led to a clear escalation in tensions."
"It is important to note that all protesters were provided with several advance notices that the encampment would be dismantled. Protesters were offered several opportunities to leave the area and face no legal consequences. Many people took advantage of those opportunities," Northeastern officials said in their statement.
In total, 118 people were arrested at Emerson College last week, and around 100 were arrested at Northeastern University over the weekend.
Students supporting the Palestinian people are feeling hurt and unheard. The message from students to Northeastern, Emerson, MIT and Tufts is simple: They want the schools to disclose, denounce and divest from Israel.
"A lot of our tuition dollars are going towards the killing of Palestinians," Northeastern student Maya said. "So far, over 42,000 Palestinians have been killed."
Sophia Pargas, the Berkeley Beacon's editor-in-chief, said student journalists are both covering and processing the events as they happen in real time. Some students expressed outrage over the university's handling and police use of force at an Emerson Town Hall on Monday.
"You know, BPD reported no injuries, but there were several injuries from students," Pargas said. "Students were punched, students were kicked, students had to go the hospital because of this."
Kyler Shinkle-Stolar, who's been a Northeastern student, said he was the first student to be arrested on the university's campus on the very day the encampment was set up.
"I was taken to Nashua Street jail, where they did strip search me and held me there for about five or six hours," Shinkle-Stolar said. "Although that was a terrible experience for me, it is nothing compared to what Palestinians in Gaza and even in the West Bank and in Israel Proper are experiencing on a daily basis."
A spokesman for Northeastern said Tuesday that Shinkle-Stolar was not a student nor enrolled in the university when he was arrested; while the spokesman confirmed Shinkle-Stolar had attended the school, he didn't say when he stopped attending the school. NBC10 Boston reached out to Shinkle-Stolar for comment.
Northeastern said students were given a chance to show identification and those who did so were released to face university discipline. Of 98 arrested, according to the school, 29 were students and six were faculty or staff.
Meanwhile, over at Tufts University, administrators are urging students to peacefully end the encampment there so it can prepare for commencement.
They said Student Life staff will be reaching out to protestors Monday morning to plan for the end of the encampment in the next few days but did not give a hard and fast deadline for removal.
And at MIT, the president says the encampment needs to shut down to avoid the arrests that happened at Emerson and Northeastern University.
She said police are monitoring them 24/7 and the tents need to be taken down "soon" but she also did not give a specific timeline.
"From the start, this encampment has been a clear violation of our procedures for registering and reserving space for campus demonstrations — rules that are independent of content, rules that help make sure that everyone can have freedom of speech," MIT President Sally Kornbluth said in a videotaped statement.
"All eyes on Gaza. We won't back down," the students for Justice in Palestine at Tufts said in a statement.
Students at Northeastern aren't giving up, either.
"We know now looking back that universities that refused and dragged their feet were on the wrong side of history, so we have absolutely no doubt that Northeastern will divest and that we will end the slaughter through the power of our collective action because there is no other choice," Northeastern student Alex Madaras said.
"I think as long as they're not causing any harm to people then it should be fine by me," said MIT sophomore Jace Abeyta.
"The president coming out and just saying shut it down is kind of unilaterally and one-directionally telling them from a higher standpoint that's not OK," said MIT junior Lucy Kim. "And I don't think that's a very careful and thoughtful decision."
Over in Providence, Rhode Island, Brown University sent letters to some students over the weekend, warning them of discipline if they continue to violate the university's policies about the ongoing encampment protests, reports NBC affiliate WJAR.
Students there have until 5 p.m. Monday to clear the tents from campus, a spokesperson for the Gaza Solidarity Encampment said. Those who don't comply could face consequences.
Meanwhile, in New Haven, Connecticut, demonstrations continued Sunday at Yale University, with bigger crowds, according to NBC Connecticut.
Protests have also occurred at the University of Connecticut and Wesleyan University.
Up north in Burlington, Vermont, students at the University of Vermont propped up about 12 tents on Sunday, reports NBC affiliate WPTZ.
They say they intend to sleep in the tents until their demands are met.
Also in Vermont, students at Middlebury College set up an encampment this past weekend.
The college said in a statement that students have been peaceful and are complying with the school's policies.
Back in Boston, Emerson will be holding a town hall meeting at 10 a.m. Monday to discuss how the removal of the encampment was handled.
