Dartmouth College agrees student journalists ‘should not have been arrested’
Two students journalists who were covering the pro-Palestinian protests on Dartmouth’s campus last week should not have been arrested, the college’s president said Tuesday.
Dartmouth President sian L. beilock’s statement came after an organization that rates universities on free speech wrote to the college on Tuesday, asking the charges be dismissed.
“We are deeply concerned that arresting journalists engaged in legitimate newsgathering sets a dangerous precedent, harms the public’s right to know, and defies Dartmouth’s commitments to students’ expressive and press rights,” said the letter, signed by the Foundation for individual rights and Expression, or FirE, and the student Press Law center, as well as 13 other national organizations that advocate for journalists and first amendment rights.
Alesandra gonzales and charlotte hampton had been granted permission to cover the protest and were wearing press identification, but were arrested and charged with criminal trespass anyway, according to the letter.
“These arrests silence student journalists at a time when the world relies on their coverage to capture the realities of campus events,” the letter continued.
On Tuesday afternoon, beilock released an open letter published in the college newspaper The Dartmouth, addressing the arrests of the student journalists and apologizing for the harm the decision has caused.
beilock said she had been speaking with people concerned for those arrested on may 1, that she shared those concerns, and wanted to clarify a few points.
“First,” she said, “the student journalists for The Dartmouth who were on the green to report on the protests should not have been arrested for doing their jobs.”
“We are working with local authorities to ensure this error is corrected,” she said.
college officials previously refused to acknowledge any wrongful arrests, according to the new England First Amendment coalition. The nonprofit, nonpartisan organization also had sent a letter asking the college to denounce the arrests of student journalists and insist charges against them be dropped.
The Dartmouth Editorial board published an editorial requesting the charges be dropped on may 2, the day after the protest.
“Journalists should be off limits,” it read.
“We expect a prompt and public apology from college President sian Leah beilock.”
nhPr reported on may 3 that a college spokesperson called the student journalists “respected members of our community,” but did not indicate plans to drop charges.
FirE has rated Dartmouth a “yellow” for its speech code rating, which was last updated in may 2023. The yellow rating identifies colleges with at least one ambiguous policy “that too easily encourages administrative abuse and arbitrary application,” according to FirE. it includes policies on nondiscrimination and anti-harassment, sexual harassment, and bias and hate speech.
Dartmouth’s overall ranking on free speech is 240 out of 248 colleges surveyed, based on factors such as campus policies, openness, tolerance, and administrative support for free speech. michigan Technological university ranked first; harvard university ranked last.