Achinthya Sivalingam, a graduate student at Princeton University, was arrested on April 25, for participating in an unauthorized student-led encampment protest on campus. She is a second-year student at Princeton’s Master’s in Public Affairs program. However, according to the university administration, she will be barred from the university following a disciplinary process. Sivalingam is one of the several hundreds of pro-Palestine student protestors who have been arrested on university campuses across the country.
The Daily Princetonian reports that Sivalingam and fellow protester Hassan Sayed were arrested for their involvement in a sit-in protest involving around a hundred protesters at the McCosh Courtyard on campus on the morning of April 25. The Princeton Public Safety (PSAFE) issued a warning to the students when they started erecting tents. When the protesters continued to set up their tents, Sivalingam and Sayed were arrested. Other protesters then packed their tents but continued to protest in the courtyard, their numbers more than doubling by noon.
Reports suggest that both students were released soon after, but were charged with trespassing and barred from campus. However, they were allowed to return to their dormitories.
On April 27, 145 postdoctoral researchers and faculty members signed a letter calling for the two students’ full reinstatement, and for the punitive measures against them to be reversed and expunged from their records.
This series was made possible in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library in partnership with the California Department of Social Services and the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs as part of the Stop the Hate program.