Johns Hopkins letter confuses students as tensions rise over pro-Palestinian encampment

BALTIMORE - Tensions are rising at Johns Hopkins University as pro-Palestine protesters remain despite repeated pleas from university administration for the encampment to end.

Protesters have been camping out on the Baltimore campus for 11 days.

Not knowing who is at the encampment caused confusion across the campus Wednesday evening after the Student Affairs department sent a letter to all Johns Hopkins students.

"It's definitely been a little stressful, I would say," JHU student Angelica Fagan said. "I don't know who is at the encampment."

"I was confused because, first off, it said student conduct email," said student Wilson Martinez. "I was like, 'Whoa, what's going on?'"

What did the letter say?

That letter obtained by WJZ asked students to commit to leaving the encampment by 6 pm on Wednesday, not return or participate in future protests or demonstrations that go against the Student Code of Conduct. 

In return, the letter said, the student will not face conduct action by the university. 

The university pledged the conduct deferral would not be a part of student records, would not impact academic standing and would remain confidential. 

The second page of the letter had lines for students to sign and print their names, causing confusion across the campus.

 "I was like, 'Do they think I'm a part of the encampment?'" Fagan said.

"We're all so stressed with the finals and everything, so that email was not nice to receive," student Pablo Dominguez said.

Students told WJZ the letter made them believe action would be taken Wednesday to remove protesters who stayed past the 6 p.m. deadline. 

"I was like, 'Oh, they're going to be really strict about this and they're going to put out some disciplinary actions,' but I don't feel like that is going to happen," Fagan said.

No deal

Protest organizers, called "Johns Hopkins Collective" and university officials have failed to reach any agreement despite meeting for about six hours on Tuesday.

The group told WJZ that JHU administrators did not come to the table that satisfy their demands.

"We refuse the University's scare tactics," Hopkins Justice Collective said. "After yesterday's meeting with the administration, which produced a miserable offer to the encampment, this move from the University reads as despicable and fear-mongering. The encampment has yet to receive any word from the administration about resuming negotiations."

Johns Hopkins leaders say they have presented multiple offers and engaged in negotiations.

"The university is continuing to work to bring the encampment to a close given the serious risk of conflict and harm to the university community, as seen here already and at peer institutions around the country," a Johns Hopkins University spokesperson said.

 "Since the inception of the encampment, we've been in regular contact with students participating in the encampment and the Hopkins Justice Collective." 

What are protesters demands?

Hopkins Justice Collective is calling on JHU to divest, disclose, boycott, demilitarize and denounce.

The group demands JHU to:

• Hopkins financially divest from the Israeli occupation of Palestine
• Provide an honest and full account of its complicity in the crimes committed against Palestinians, as a first step toward transparency
• To cease all partnerships with the Israeli educational military-industrial complex
• The total demilitarization of Johns Hopkins, including the APL and Johns Hopkins Police Department
• End the silence on the genocide of Palestinians and the silencing of pro-Palestinian speech