On April 18th, 2024, the New York Police Department (NYPD) arrested over 100 peaceful student protestors at Columbia University’s “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” in response to orders by university President Nemat Minouche Shafik. The arrests have ignited a nationwide movement of college students setting up similar encampments to protest US support for Israeli military action in Gaza and to call for divestment of school endowments from corporations that profit from war. 

Alarmingly, however, college administrators have continued to escalate against peaceful student protests with violent police suppression, disproportionate disciplinary action, and undue censorship. Administrator-ordered police intervention on several campuses has led to more than 800 arrests of students nationally, with many police officers using excessive force. At the University of Texas at Austin, Governor Greg Abbott called on state troopers clad in riot gear to stop peaceful student demonstrations, while at Emory University police officers and state troopers reportedly used pepper spray, rubber bullets and tear gas on students, tased attendees, and wrestled faculty to the ground. Since November 2023, administrators have employed multiple intimidation tactics to censor pro-Palestinian voices, including suspending students to facilitate police arrests, banning student chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), and even terminating physicians-in-training from residency programs.

National APAMSA condemns the brutal crackdown on academic freedom and free speech on college campuses across the country. We support statements made by organizations such as Asian Texans for Justice, Rise AAPI, Emgage Action, Stop AAPI Hate, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and Human Rights Watch (HRW). As a national medical student organization whose mission is rooted in principles of health advocacy, we stand in solidarity with all students exercising their constitutional right to free speech to advocate for human rights. As stated in a previous statement, National APAMSA unequivocally upholds the value of human life everywhere. We remain committed in our demand for a sustained humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza in light of the thousands of innocent lives lost, numerous attacks on healthcare workers and facilities, and restricted access to humanitarian aid.

We call on college administrators to resist political pressures to censor student voices and instead uphold academic freedom––encouraging students to engage in civil discourse on campuses without fear of punitive and disproportionate punishment. Removing peaceful protests using police violence under the guise of improving campus safety further endangers students and creates hostile learning environments. Reiterating previous statements, we likewise continue to condemn accounts of anti-Palestinian racism, antisemitism, and Islamophobia reported amid the protests.