Lebanon Circuit Court Judge Michael Mace found students Kevin Engel and Roan Wade guilty of Class B misdemeanor criminal trespass today for pitching a tent in protest outside Dartmouth College President Sian Leah Beilock’s office in October 2023. The decision, which rested on Engel and Wade’s violation of the student handbook, omitted mention of their reasons for protesting — that is, the College’s financial investments in organizations complicit in the genocide of Palestinians. Sentencing is scheduled for February 11.
CDP’s Kira Kelley, who represented the students at trial, had repeatedly drawn attention to evidence that donors, board members, and wealthy parents had pressured Dartmouth administrators to crack down on the protests.
When asked how they felt about the verdict, Engel and Wade emphasized the importance of focusing on the genocide, not the tedium of the court process: “All eyes on Gaza.”
Kevin and Roan’s arrests kicked off a wave of protests across the country in which students drew attention to the devastation that Israel has been inflicting on Palestine, particularly the Gaza Strip. There have been over 170 Gaza Solidarity Encampments globally, where students have taken over their campuses in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
A subsequent student-led protest on May 1, 2024 resulted in the arrest of eighty-nine people. Thirty-four cases were dropped prior to arraignment, and all but two have settled their cases on terms that amount to a dismissal of the charges conditioned on a period of “good behavior.” Christian Harris and Julianne Borger are scheduled for trial on February 11.
You can read more about the recent verdict in the Engel and Wade case in this article from local newspaper Valley News, or in this article from student newspaper The Dartmouth.