More than a dozen pro-Palestinian protesters at Stanford University were arrested — and some immediately suspended from school — Wednesday after they briefly took over the president's office, authorities said.
In the latest provocative campus action calling for divestment from Israel in the wake of the country's war with Hamas, students and alumni entered President Richard Saller's office about 5:30 a.m. PT, according to the group’s spokesperson.
They vowed to "remain inside the building and are refusing to leave until their demands are met," the spokesperson said in a statement.
But within three hours, the building appeared to be back in university control after campus police and Santa Clara County Sheriff’s deputies took action, officials said.
"We are appalled and deeply saddened by the actions that occurred on our campus earlier today," according to a joint statement from the university president and Provost Jenny Martinez.
A campus police officer was injured by protesters during the clear-out, and damage was "done inside the building" along with "extensive graffiti vandalism on the sandstone buildings and columns of the Main Quad," the Stanford administrators said.
"This graffiti conveys vile and hateful sentiments that we condemn in the strongest terms," the officials continued. "Whether the graffiti was created by members of the Stanford community or outsiders, we expect that the vast majority of our community joins us in rejecting this assault on our campus."
The school took immediate action against students involved.
Thirteen people were arrested inside the building and any "who are students will be immediately suspended" and seniors among the group "will not be allowed to graduate," the officials said.
It wasn't immediately clear if "will not be allowed to graduate" meant students would be barred from commencement ceremonies or kicked out of school entirely without being able to claim a degree.
Wednesday is the last day of classes for the spring term with graduation ceremonies set for June 15 and 16.
"We have consistently emphasized the need for constructive engagement and peaceful protest when there is a disagreement in views," Stanford spokesperson Dee Mostofi said. "This was not peaceful protest, and actions such as what occurred this morning have no place at Stanford."
The protesters are demanding that the school divest itself of any financial interests in any companies "that provide material and logistical support to Israel's current military campaign," according to the group.
College students across the nation staged campus protests this spring, demanding that their schools withdraw any investments they say are helping Israeli forces in their military operations in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces have been attacking the Palestinian enclave since Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7.
The most prominent U.S. campus action against Israel was taken by Columbia University students who took over a key building, Hamilton Hall.
The protests led to campus leaders bringing in New York City police officers to take back the building and clear a protester encampment. On-campus graduation ceremonies had to be moved to a football stadium 100 blocks off campus.
