RISD president to protesting students: Leave building or face expulsion

PROVIDENCE − Pro-Palestine students occupying a Rhode Island School of Design building vacated the space Thursday after President Crystal Williams threatened them with expulsion, according to a man affiliated with the students.

Williams confirmed that the students have left in a message posted to RISD's website at about 3:30 p.m.

A man who has addressed the students at many gatherings and identifies himself as Imam Nimer M. Ead told The Providence Journal he had spoken to leaders of the protest and that all of the protesters have left the building.

RISD security had told the students they faced expulsion if they stayed, said Ead, standing outside the building and wearing a keffiyeh, a symbol of Palestinian nationalism.

Ead added that the students told him their protest activity is not over.

The crowd outside the building thinned significantly early Thursday afternoon.

RISD president threatens protesters with expulsion

Williams previously sent a message to the occupiers, saying the students "may vacate the space by 2:30 pm and undergo a restorative justice process," or face expulsion.

The restorative justice process, she said, "is designed to be fair and just, ensuring that all parties are heard and respected."

"Students will be responsible for returning the space—including all furniture, walls, projects, bathrooms, etc.—to its original state by tomorrow (Friday) afternoon, meet with students and faculty whom their actions have immediately negatively impacted, listen to the impact of their actions and engage in respectful dialog, and reimburse those who have spent personal funds on no longer viable projects as a result of the occupation," Williams wrote.

"If students vacate by 2:30 p.m. and the above restorative justice conditions are not met, students will be held accountable under the current conduct codes," she wrote.

"If students do not vacate the space by 2:30 pm, we will proceed with expulsion from Rhode Island School of Design," Williams wrote.

RISD staff members earlier removed chairs and tables Pro-Palestine protesters used to barricade themselves inside a school building but left the students inside to continue their four-day occupation.

RISD Students for Justice in Palestine have posted a live video to Instagram that showed RISD staff taking apart a barricade of chairs and tables that students used to block themselves off on the second floor.

More: RISD protesters demand divestment saying, 'We will not bend an inch'; vow stay in building

Williams previously sent a message to the students, telling them to remove the barricades and clear ways into and out of the area because they were violating state fire codes.

"We are sending RISD facilities and maintenance staff to help you create a means of ingress and egress that is in compliance with Rhode Island state law," she wrote. "I implore you to work with them to achieve this outcome. We will not use this moment to otherwise enter the space."

"Let me reiterate, there is no circumstance where I want external law enforcement entities to engage with students who are peacefully protesting," she wrote. "However, we do need your cooperation."

Protesters live stream destruction of the barricade

Viewing the video, it does not appear that the occupiers helped remove the obstacles, and despite Williams' assurances, they seemed to think they would be removed from the building. The video showed them locking arms and chanting.

"Free Free Palestine," they chanted.

"From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free.

"Fighting for divestment, we shall not be moved," they chanted.

No police were seen outside the building.

Students have occupied campus building since Monday

Students took over Washington Place, an administrative and academic building on Monday, and said they renamed it "Fathi Ghaben Place" for the prominent Palestinian artist who died in Gaza in February.

At look at the building's interior shows an image of Ghaben painted on the wall, along with many messages on walls throughout the area.

"Listen to their screaming," reads one.

"How many more martyrs," read one another sign hand painted on the walls.

The chanting students were circled around a red and black banner lying on the floor that read "Disclose, Divest, Defend Gaza."

They were joined by a crowd outside the building who clapped, beat makeshift drums and chanted along with the protesters indoors.

The crowd outside the building spilled over the sidewalk onto the street but did not appear to be impeding traffic.

The students on Tuesday told President Crystal Williams they would "not bend an inch" and would continue occupying the building until their demands over Palestine are met.

At about 12:25 p.m., the video scanned clear hallways. "All our barricades are gone," a woman's voice says.

At about 1:45 p.m. after clamoring at a side for for about an hour, and being blocked by security, protesters gained entry to the first floor of Washington Place. Groups of them moved inside while others stayed outside.

From the side door, protesters moved to the front entrance, opened doors and tried to wave to the crowd. Only a few students entered.

Meanwhile, students who were visible from the second-floor windows are no long visible.

A masked, young woman yelled through a megaphone, "This is not over."

The students have made the following demands of RISD:

• "Provides total fiscal transparency of RISD’s investment portfolio."

• "Commits to a holistic divestment from companies, corporations and institutions that are implicated in sustaining Israeli Apartheid."

• "Establishes a student oversight committee for future investments."

• "Publicly condemns the Israeli Occupation of Gaza as a genocide."

-With reports from Staff Writer Mark Reynolds and Digital Editor Whitman Littlefield

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RISD president gives occupying students an ultimatum