Boston College students and faculty gathered on O’Neill Plaza Thursday evening to protest the University’s suppression of activism, demand investment transparency, and condemn the violence experienced by Palestinians in Gaza.
“We demand that Boston College deliver on its Jesuit values, and on its promises of commitment to service, the transmission of knowledge, and fostering of understanding,” said a speaker, who did not identify themselves. “In search of truth, we demand Boston College deliver on its promises to students’ free speech, open dialogue, and justice. As students of a Jesuit university, we demand Boston College to live in service of others—for all people, and for Palestine.”
As the sun set on O’Neill Plaza, protesters and observers stood in the snow while chants of “Free Palestine” and “Whose campus? Our campus!” echoed.
Five organizers spoke at the event, reading from a “demonstration of demands” and urging the University to take action. None of the speakers identified themselves during their speeches.
Speakers shared examples of the violence in Gaza with grim, uncensored detail.
“Hospitals have been bombed, doctors shot and kidnapped,” said another speaker. “Children’s limbs have been torn apart. Mothers forced to give birth without aid, and in the colder months, newborns have frozen to death. Palestinians have been tormented by violence, yet they still muster the strength to live and to teach and inspire.”
The speaker said the scale and severity of the violence was not merely another episode in a long-standing conflict but a deliberate attempt to commit genocide against the Palestinian people.
“The violence visited upon [the Palestinian people] is disproportionate, prejudiced, unsanctioned, and evil,” a speaker said “This is not a war. There are no arguments for both sides. This is a genocide.”
Multiple speakers also directed their criticism inward, condemning BC’s silence on Gaza despite the University’s past role in student-led activism.
“Boston College has not always been the quiet campus it is today,” one speaker said. “Boston College students rallied against our school’s complicity in South African apartheid. Upon realizing that 17 percent of BC’s endowment was being invested in South Africa, organizations like the South African Liberation Support Group and the Boston College South Africa Freedom Committee demanded the university divest from companies that have ties to South Africa.”
Another speaker pointed out the contrast between BC’s past willingness to engage in divestment conversations and its current reluctance to even acknowledge student concerns. The speaker cited a 1984 quote from John Smith, former University vice president and treasurer.
“‘If Boston College’s investment advisor bought stock in a company in clear violation of our ethical standards, we would dump it without questioning it,’” the speaker quoted. “Some stocks are just not worth it. Death is not worth it, destruction is not worth it, and Palestine is not worth giving up for money.”
Speakers argued that the University has failed to uphold its principles as a Catholic institution.
“We demand that Boston College disclose all of its ties to the Zionist entity, all of its ties to weapons manufacturing and war machinery, and all of its ties to systems of colonialism, apartheid, and death,” the speaker said. “As a private institution, it’s not obligated to disclose these things, however, as a Catholic institution it has the moral responsibility to truth and justice.”
Beyond demanding financial transparency, student speakers criticized BC’s broader attempts to curtail student activism, arguing that the University administration has repeatedly undermined student rights.
“As a student of Boston College, you do not have the rights that you think you do, and it is your concern,” the speaker said. “If not in practice, then it should be in principle because our university should be in the business of protecting our rights, not violating them.”
A third speaker recounted his own experience, explaining that he was one of two BC students arrested last spring when the Boston Police Department forcibly dismantled an encampment at Emerson College, leading to over 100 arrests.
“We were charged with disorderly conduct and failure to comply,” the speaker said. “Both charges that the courts of Massachusetts were unable to pursue due to insufficient evidence. Let me repeat, following our arrest, we were both declared innocent by the law, yet BC pursued disciplinary action over the same alleged offenses.”
Shouts of “Shame!” erupted from the crowd.
At the end of the demonstration, the final speaker rejected the notion that student voices could be subdued by the University’s administration.
“This was not a disruption,” the speaker said. “This was hardly a demonstration or a protest. The campus stakeholders have agreed to the rules, guidelines, time, place, and manner in which we’ve gathered here today, and we listen, but we must remind the administration who the real campus stakeholders are. No matter how much they try to sabotage our movement, they cannot destroy the spirit of the students. We are the stakeholders that they should be worried about.”
Rachel Sontheimer, MCAS ’26, said she attended the demonstration out of frustration with what she saw as BC’s inaction and apathy.
“I have been just really disturbed by the political apathy on this campus and how little a Catholic school seems to care about the rest of the world,” Sontheimer said. “I was raised Catholic. I believe that it is our duty as humans to care about what’s happening to each other, even when it’s on the other side of the world. I have been really frustrated by—as the speakers talked about—how Boston College has tried to stymie our right to protest.”
A speaker said the demonstration reflected a growing frustration among students over the University’s response to global crises, calling for accountability, transparency, and an end to administrative obstruction.
“Boston College repeatedly failed to be attentive to its community members, who sought to respond to the needs and the cries of the Palestinian people,” the final speaker said. “The administration asked us if the cease-fire agreement has affected the content of this demonstration, the answer is obviously f—king no. The cease-fire has no effect on the demands that we have for this university, the demands we have for you, students and faculty, and the demands we have for this world.”
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