Vanderbilt encampment and subsequent expulsions

Members of the Vanderbilt Divest Coalition entered Kirkland Hall on March 26, 2024, to urge the university to reinstate a Vanderbilt Student Government constitutional amendment supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement to the ballot. The sit-in occurred after alleged failed attempts to schedule meetings with administrators. It followed an “Apartheid Wall” exhibit and sit-in on Rand Yard hosted by Students for Justice in Palestine during its Palestine Awareness Week. After approximately 21 hours, all 27 students inside Kirkland Hall were interimly suspended, with three arrested for assault of a security guard and a Nashville Scene reporter arrested for trespassing. 

VDC erected the encampment outside Kirkland Hall during the sit-in. The encampment lasted 40 days before being voluntarily taken down by VDC on May 4, the official move-out date for non-graduating students. 

“The encampment started very organically, and I think that that's really powerful because administrators thought that if they removed the 27 students who were inside from campus, suddenly the protest would stop,” a VDC representative being kept anonymous for protection from retribution said. “What they failed to understand is that this is so much bigger than individual student suppression and that targeting students won't stop a movement that's grounded in the liberation of Palestine.”

Pomona College erected its encampment two days after Vanderbilt, followed by Columbia University’s — which garnered widespread national attention — on April 17. By the end of the month, 90 encampments were formed on campuses across the nation. 

Vanderbilt was the first of only two institutions in the country to expel students, and it was the first to take administrative action against students for pro-Palestine protests. Expelled Vanderbilt students were charged with misdemeanor assault charges and are currently going through the legal process. The University of South Florida expelled one student for “breaking university policies” in her involvement with pro-Palestinian protests. Of the 136 universities with encampments, 25 suspended students and 109 had no suspensions or expulsions.