Sakomura and Goldberg, the Swarthmore co-presidents wrote that they recognize the encampment “may cause some students, faculty, and staff members to feel uncomfortable or even intimidated” and directed them to campus counseling services.

They acknowledged the protest may attract attention outside the campus and said they were increasing public safety’s presence on campus.

“We know this may draw some criticism, but we take this action in the best interest of our entire community,” they wrote.

Columbia canceled in-person classes on Monday and said it would switch to a hybrid mode for the rest of the semester after more than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators had set up an encampment on the New York City campus last week and were arrested. Protesters also were arrested at New York University and Yale, as encampments spread to other colleges, including the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus.

Penn last semester and earlier this semester experienced multiple protests and demonstrations by pro-Palestinian groups. Early last month, student protesters shouting “divest from genocide” disrupted Penn’s board of trustees meeting; the board quickly passed its resolutions and adjourned the meeting.

The campus was roiled after the Palestine Writes Literary Festival was held on campus in September, which critics said included speakers with a history of making antisemitic remarks. Those tensions escalated after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent military actions in Gaza.

Deep pocketed donors protested and called for the resignation of former president Liz Magill and board chair Scott L. Bok. Both resigned in December after Magill’s testimony before a congressional committee on colleges’ handling of antisemitism on campus.

Over the weekend, the Daily Pennsylvanian, the student newspaper, reported that Penn had suspended the pro-Palestinian student group Penn Against the Occupation from campus. The university told the newspaper that the group “failed to comply with policies that govern student organizations at Penn, despite repeated efforts to engage with the group and to provide opportunities to resolve noncompliance.”

The student group called it a “sham investigation,” according to the newspaper.

Also last week, The New York Post reported that about 200 alumni sent a letter to Jameson asking that eight Penn professors, whom they accused of antisemitism, be sanctioned for their speech and behavior.

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