A day after police arrested 25 pro-Palestinian demonstrators at the University of Connecticut, President Radenka Maric issued a statement that encouraged free expression and dialogue while standing firm in the university’s decision to arrest peaceful protesters.

The joint statement, authored by President Radenka Maric, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Anne D’Alleva and Vice President for Student Life and Enrollment Nathan Fuerst is the first communication from Maric to the UConn community after student activists established an encampment on Thursday, April 25, to demand that the university break ties with Israel and divest from companies supporting the war in Gaza.

UConn dismantled the encampment Tuesday after University of Connecticut Police arrested 24 students and one former student during an early-morning crackdown. The protesters were charged with criminal trespass in the first degree and disorderly conduct.

In the statement, Maric, D’Alleva and Fuerst said “this was a difficult decision” and that the university “acted to ensure compliance with its policies and practices regarding larger public outdoor gatherings on our campuses.”

“While we all wish arrests could have been avoided, we are grateful for the largely calm response and hope that this paves the way for constructive dialogue on very serious issues facing the global community in which we all live – which is exactly what a university community should foster,” they said.

Maric, D’Alleva and Fuerst said the university “unequivocally supports the rights of our students and community at large to express themselves through speech and peaceful assembly, as well as through the bedrock right of academic freedom.”

They said the encampment “was not registered and did not follow the University’s policies and processes” and that “individuals who were gathered at the encampment significantly deviated from the guidelines and ignored directives to follow them, including by erecting tents and through the use of amplified sound.”

Student demonstrators said that between 50 and 200 police descended on the encampment at approximately 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, encircling the camp and arresting students who did not comply with orders to disperse.

University Spokesperson Stephanie Reitz said Connecticut State Police troopers and a “small number of officers” from East Hartford, Norwich, Willimantic and the Department of Corrections assisted UConn police. The university did not respond to a request to disclose the total number of law enforcement personnel involved.

A number of students and faculty condemned the arrests, describing the action an infringement on Constitutional rights and academic freedom.

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