Johns Hopkins students lock down administrative building, president calls for end to protest
Johns Hopkins University president Ronald J. Daniels on Friday called for an end to a student protest over a private police force and ICE contracts, calling the group’s takeover of the campus’ main administration building “a troubling and untenable situation.”
“What started as a strong expression of disagreement with university positions and policies has since been dramatically escalated by the protesters and now involves a number of serious health and safety issues,” Daniels wrote in a letter sent to students, faculty and staff.
The protestors locked down Garland Hall this week, chaining the doors shut and forcing the university to close the building. The lockdown prompted the university to suspend or relocate a services such as financial aid, disability, academic advising and student visas, Daniels said in the letter.
The student protestors posted on their JHU sit-in social media accounts Thursday morning that they hope the lock-down has “shifted the path of this campus” and “changed the history of Johns Hopkins and its relationship with Baltimore and the broader world.”
Students said they intend to remain at Garland Hall, which they’ve been occupying since early April, until Daniels negotiates with them. They are demanding that the university cancel plans for a private police force, which was approved by the Maryland General Assembly during the recent legislative session. They also want the university to end contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/johns-hopkins-students-lock-down-administrative-building-president-calls-for-end-to-troubling-protest/ar-AAAQUO4?li=BBnb7Kz