A new report from Washington University states that school officials followed protocol when campus police broke up student-led demonstrations on campus against the ongoing war in Gaza last April.
WashU convened an ad hoc committee in September that took a closer look at the university’s response to protests on its campus that led to the arrest of over 100 participants. The report said that over 70% of those arrested were not WashU students or faculty, but rather members of the greater St. Louis community.
The 31-page report states that the committee spoke with students, faculty and WashU community members to provide a detailed account from the university’s perspective of how the events unfolded across three days of protest. The largest protest, which took place on April 27, had over 400 demonstrators and ultimately led to arrests.
According to a statement from the university, the committee was led by emeritus trustee William B. Pollard III, along with eight other trustees. The committee presented its findings on March 7 to the full board of trustees, which voted to approve the report.
“Our goal was to conduct a fair, thorough and independent review of the events of last spring and to identify opportunities to improve or clarify the university’s policies and procedures concerning demonstrations on our campus,” Pollard said in a statement. “With the support of our WashU community, we were able to successfully accomplish this.”
The report includes nine recommendations from the committee for the university to consider as it navigates student-led demonstrations in the future:
- Review and augment policies that govern demonstrations.
- Review and strengthen crisis communication capabilities.
- Establish and publish clear criteria for supporting students who are suspended and barred from campus.
- Establish and publicize a policy governing protest activity by individuals not affiliated with WashU.
- Strengthen the Demonstration and Disruption team and provide additional support.
- Review protocols for responding to demonstrations on campus.
- Clarify chain of command for the university leadership team, particularly when the chancellor is unavailable.
- Assess information-gathering capabilities.
- Review police resources, including partnerships with neighboring municipalities.
Since the protests last spring, the university has revised some policies, including barring students from camping or sleeping outdoors on campus grounds.
WashU senior and student organizer Andrew de las Alas said he wants to see the university engage in more open dialogue with the community about its demands that include ending university contracts with Boeing, which has partnerships with Israel.
“A policy on tents isn’t just a policy on tents in the name of student safety or something like that. It’s reflective of a much larger crackdown on student activism,” de las Alas said. “Quite frankly, because a lot of folks in the Trump administration or other weapons manufacturers who are funding them know that student protests have been a real catalyst in public opinion.”
The report, which was released six months after the committee was convened, comes at a time when the Trump administration has increased the crackdown on student protests on college campuses.
Earlier this month, the administration pulled $400 million in funding from Columbia University in New York because of the ongoing pro-Palestinian protests against the war in Gaza taking place on its campus.
Michael Allen, a professor at WashU last spring who was suspended on April 29 for participating in the demonstrations, criticized the committee’s report for not speaking to more students and faculty members about their experiences. He also said the university failed to adequately address the students’ concerns.
“There’s no acknowledgment of the demands of the protesters have WashU disclose its investments, especially in Boeing and other armaments companies that are funding what many experts consider a genocide in Gaza,” Allen said. “It’s not like people just wanted to disrupt campus and throw up tents. This is a specific cause and specific actions.”
Criminal charges
Also on Wednesday, St. Louis County prosecutors announced misdemeanor charges against two of the more than 100 people arrested.
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, 72, and 24-year-old Jeron Hicks, a WashU graduate student, are the only two people to face criminal cases. WashU police sought charges against 19 people. The university can pursue other cases in municipal court, but officials have not said whether they will do so.
“I want to make it clear that these misdemeanor criminal charges are not a statement about the freedoms of speech or assembly, which we honor and uphold as part of our Constitution,” St. Louis County Prosecutor Melissa Price Smith said. “They are not a statement about the subject of the protest, which was the situation in Gaza. These charges merely reflect our professional judgment that we have the evidence to prove these particular criminal charges beyond a reasonable doubt.”
According to court documents, Stein and Hicks were among a group of protesters who refused to leave the WashU campus after receiving multiple orders from police to disperse. Stein was allegedly among a group of protesters who attempted to grab a bike that officers were using for crowd control. She then allegedly kicked an officer in the leg and groin – he later sought medical treatment.
Hicks allegedly resisted arrest by refusing to allow themself to be handcuffed and having to be carried from the scene. They are also accused of spitting at a WashU police lieutenant in January 2025. Court records do not explain how or why the two were in contact at that time.
Hicks and Stein have both received a summons to appear in court. Stein, who lives in Massachusetts, has a hearing on May 19. Hicks’ initial hearing is scheduled for April 22.
