Graduating Dartmouth students who were arrested during protests against Israel’s war in Gaza will be allowed to participate in commencement this upcoming weekend, after a judge agreed to modify their bail conditions.
Most of the 89 people arrested during those May 1 protests were students. Since then, bail conditions have prohibited those arrested from accessing parts of campus, including the Dartmouth Green, the site of both the protests and the upcoming commencement ceremony. Joe Earles, a graduating senior from Atlanta, was charged with criminal trespass. He said he was relieved to learn that he will be able to walk across the stage during this weekend’s ceremonies.
“I’ve got family coming from all over who I’m really excited to see no matter what, but it would have been really, really hard to say, ‘Oh, thanks for coming and thanks for all the support for my time here, but you’re not going to get to see me walk. You’re not going to get to see me do the thing you came here for,’” Earles said.
