College Protest Updates: Police begin dismantling University of Chicago encampment

Over 300 Harvard University professors have signed a letter to the university urging “constructive dialogue” with peaceful protesters on campus.

“We are concerned that the university has not yet met with students to hear their concerns. Instead, the administration has increasingly threatened punitive disciplinary measures of a severity the university has not experienced in decades,” the professors wrote.

“We call on the administration to meet and engage in meaningful dialogue with peacefully protesting students,” the letter said.

The letter, sent Tuesday to interim president Alan Garber and interim provost John F. Manning, came after Harvard warned protesters to evacuate their camp. The professors are calling on Harvard administrators to follow the example of Brown University and Northwestern University, where the camps were dismantled after school leaders agreed to take steps to divest.

“I believe so many of us signed this letter because as educators we have a duty of care to our students. The severity and extent of the proposed punishment is unprecedented and frankly alarming; “These are activities that should be approached with dialogue, not punishment,” Teju Cole, Gore Vidal Professor of Creative Writing at Harvard, said in a statement.

“We call on the administration to be fair and place these protests in the context of numerous other protests that have taken place here in the past in which the university did the right thing,” Cole said.

According to Chicago ABC station WLS, police entered a warehouse at the University of Chicago early Tuesday and began dismantling it.

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said Monday that an LAPD detective will join the school’s investigation to identify those involved in violence against pro-Palestinian protesters on campus last week.

The law enforcement investigation at UCLA is being led by Deputy Chancellor and Chief Safety Officer Rick Braziel. Their goal is to “identify the perpetrators of the violence and hold them accountable,” Block said in a message to the community.

Block said they have asked the FBI for “possible assistance,” as well as Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón for prosecution.

Protesters at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology defied orders to leave the camp on Monday.

Footage from the scene shows demonstrators tearing down the barriers, surrounding the camp and linking arms with each other.

This came after MIT President Sally Kornbluth gave students until 2:30 p.m. ET to leave the on-campus encampment.

According to Kornbluth, the camp on the MIT campus on Kresge Lawn has been going on for more than two weeks.

“Multiple arrests occurred Monday night at Virginia Commonwealth University after a tense standoff between police and pro-Palestinian protesters on the Richmond campus,” officials said.

Commenting on the arrests, the university said in a statement that final exams begin this week and the school “must provide students with the opportunity to complete the semester safely and successfully.”

“The gathering violated several university policies. “VCU respectfully and repeatedly offered the individuals involved – many of whom were not students – the opportunity to pick up their belongings and leave,” the university statement continued. “Those who didn’t leave were arrested for trespassing. While VCU supports an environment that promotes protected speech and expressive activities, it must maintain an atmosphere in which the mission of the university is not disrupted.”

-Beatrice Peterson and Davone Morales from ABC News