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Indiana University cleared the last of a pro-Palestinian encampment from its historic Dunn Meadow Friday and placed a fence around the outdoor site.
An encampment had occupied that area of the university’s flagship Bloomington campus since April. Late that month, protesters set up tents, only for the university to call in the state police, who arrested demonstrators and cleared Dunn Meadow. But some protesters quickly reconstituted the encampment in the long-designated free speech zone.
IU police said in a statement that they finally cleared the encampment around 4 a.m. Friday. “Officials provided verbal and written expectations to individuals in Dunn Meadow over several days before the property was removed,” the department said. “No individuals were present during the removal of the abandoned property.”
The move came the day after a new Indiana University Board of Trustees policy took effect. The rules impose protest restrictions, including those against unapproved camping, across all nine IU campuses.
The local Herald-Times reported that university workers started power washing pro-Palestinian chalk messages and symbols off the sidewalks Thursday. Tom Morrison, the university’s vice president for capital planning and facilities, published a message Friday morning about Dunn Meadow and the new fence, saying the “heavy use of that space since April and placement of temporary structures unfortunately damaged the area, necessitating extensive repairs now that the structures have been removed. Our hardworking facilities team is restoring the grounds, including replacing turf and servicing the subsurface irrigation system. This work will ensure Dunn Meadow returns to a condition that makes it usable.”
Bryce Greene, a spokesperson for the Indiana University Divestment Coalition and a third-year Ph.D. student in informatics, told Inside Higher Ed, “Our encampment has officially come down, but our organizing capacity has never been stronger.”
