This is such a dumb move. It’s only going to embolden the protesters.
The Times Union reports:
Bard student protesters reach a deal with the college to end Ludlow occupationBard Students for Justice in Palestine ended their weekend-long occupation of Bard College’s main administration building after the school agreed to meet their demands related to its investment process.The occupation began Friday when the students escalated weeks of demonstrations on campus to speed up negotiations, said Ariella, a member of Bard Students for Justice in Palestine who was part of the negotiation team. Ariella asked that their full name not be used out of concern for their family’s safety.The protests were peaceful and students agreed to vacate Ludlow Hall after the deal was struck late Sunday night. The building houses the college’s offices for the school’s president, vice president for administration, dean of the college, registrar and other related departments. Ariella said the students and administrators participated in 19 hours of formal negotiations — most of which took place after students occupied Ludlow — and that both parties have acted in good faith.As of Monday afternoon, students were almost finished decamping and removing food and medical supplies from the site, Ariella said.“We are glad this ended peacefully and amicably,” Bard spokesman Mark Primoff told the Times Union.According to the finalized agreement provided to the Times Union, Bard agreed to act “in support of appropriate challenges — political, social, and legal — to Executive Order 157,” which bans investments in institutions or companies that boycott Israel. The school also agreed to “challenge other legislation and executive orders that limit speech, devoting resources — intellectual, moral, and, where appropriate and available, financial — to these efforts.”The college also agreed to provide full disclosure relating to the nature and structure of its endowment for the 2024-2025 academic year, “including its current investments as well as the timeline for and structure of its future.” Bard will also institute an elected cross-campus committee of students, faculty, staff and administration that “will provide written ethical investment guidelines for the responsible fiduciaries of Bard College.” Senior administration and committee members will bring the guidelines to the fiduciaries for adoption in good faith and accurately represent the guidelines put forth by the committee, according to the agreement.
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