The encampment protest launched at Northeastern Thursday morning drew hundreds of Northeastern students to Centennial Common throughout the day. As the afternoon went on, groups of outside participants from Boston-area universities and organizations joined the masses of people chanting and organizing on the lawn.
Each demonstrator had a different perspective and reason behind their involvement. Several of The News’ reporters spoke to participants from a host of backgrounds to see what brought them to the demonstration.
The News received consent from each of the following protesters to quote and photograph them.
August Escandon, a fourth-year communication studies major, stayed at the encampment site from early afternoon into the night.
He said he was proud of his fellow students for erecting the encampment in the wake of many others at nearby universities, including Harvard University, Tufts University, Emerson College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“Speaking for myself, I feel like the university has not been listening,” Escandon said. “This is a very disruptive, tangible way to show that there are people who are mad about it.”
Rio Dolmetsch said “a lot” brought him to Northeastern’s encampment protest the afternoon of April 25.
Dolmetsch, a second-year visual media arts major at Emerson College, was among the hundreds of protesters at Emerson’s Bolyston Street encampment when it was swept by Boston police shortly before 2 a.m. Thursday, resulting in the arrests of more than 100 people.
He said joining the Northeastern community on Centennial Common today lifted his spirits. He and a group of roughly eight other Emerson students made the trip from downtown Boston to participate in the city’s latest encampment.
“It’s so empowering to be part of a presence and be here, at least in some little way, to show somebody that people and students are upset,” he said.
Piper Keagle, a first-year music therapy major at Berklee College of Music, joined the encampment at 7:15 p.m. Thursday, when dozens of Berklee students entered Centennial. Her school’s lack of green space, she said, has made protesting outside of Berklee difficult, which prompted students to participate in Northeastern’s demonstration.
During their walk from Berklee to Northeastern, Keagle said the group blocked traffic and elicited honks and cheers from bypassing pedestrians and cars.
“We came here to Northeastern once we heard about the protest,” Keagle said. “Since it’s happening a lot in Massachusetts, Harvard and here, people are wanting to become active. We decided to come here and show our support.”
Ki-Jana Carter, unlike the majority of demonstrators, is not a college student. The 28-year-old came to the encampment to support Northeastern students and stand in solidarity with Palestine. He is an organizer with the Boston chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
“I think it’s inspiring to see so many students across the country organizing and now in the Boston area at all of these universities,” he said.
Carter arrived at Centennial at 4:30 p.m. Thursday after seeing social media footage of police trying to clear the encampment.
“I wanted to come out here and support because we have power in numbers,” he said.
Carter said he was most impressed by how “steadfast” everyone was, even after threats from administration and police.
“The energy here is really strong,” he said. “It’s very vibrant.”
