Bowdoin College Trespass Warning

Bowdoin College (Brunswick, Maine) security just sent Brunswick policeman to my door with a 'Criminal trespass warning' which I refused to sign.

They are banning me from stepping onto the campus for one year. If I do I would be arrested for criminal trespass.

The reason: because I entered the student union during the occupation after being told I could not enter.

When I did enter ( a couple days after I was told I could not enter with others going in) a young Bowdoin security guard let me enter saying 'You are not supposed to go in, but I won't stop you.'

I just went in to take a look at the scene and gave a cheer to the occupiers and then left.

I'm told the students who occupied the student union (and are now facing possible reprimand and expulsion from the college) are also being intimidated. 

One person connected to the students told me, "They [the college] are trying their very best to isolate the students involved - even trying to isolate them from their peers on campus".

Bowdoin has now banned 8 students who were the last to leave the student union from the campus too.

Freedom? Democracy? Liberty? Free expression?  

Gone with the wind....

Bruce 

PS See Portland Press Herald story updating this situation here 

UPDATE: 

Portland Press Herald reports: 

Bowdoin College has lifted suspensions against eight students who were disciplined for their involvement in a pro-Palestine encampment.

“Suspensions lifted!!” an Instagram post from the Bowdoin Students for Justice in Palestine read. “Thanks to all who mobilized, this is proof of our collective strength.”

Olivia Kenney, a Bowdoin senior helped organize the protest. Kenney, 22, credited the college’s decision — which she called unsurprising — to an outpouring of support from fellow students and others across the state following news of the suspensions.

“Bowdoin’s reaction was very harsh,” she said. “It remains unclear to me exactly which policies we violated. And it seems to me that many voices in the Bowdoin community spoke up around the issue of Bowdoin’s repression of speech around Palestine.”

Eisa Rafat leads a rally in support of the Bowdoin College protesters who remained at the encampment inside the Smith Union on Feb. 10. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald