The president of George Washington University is seeking assistance from local law enforcement as the university attempts to handle the pro-Palestinian encampment on campus.

Ellen M. Granberg, the president of the university, described the encampment as “an illegal and potentially dangerous occupation of GW property,” in a new statement issued on Sunday.

“When protesters overrun barriers established to protect the community, vandalize a university statue and flag, surround and intimidate GW students with antisemitic images and hateful rhetoric, chase people out of a public yard based on their perceived beliefs, and ignore, degrade, and push GW Police Officers and university maintenance staff, the protest ceases to be peaceful or productive,” Granberg said.

The university has “requested the assistance of the DC Metropolitan Police Department, erected barriers to contain the protest, initiated academic and administrative consequences for trespassing GW students, expanded our security resources and personnel, and conducted regular and sustained dialogues with GW students connected to the camp,” she said.

Granberg explained that the university is “not equipped to single-handedly manage an unprecedented situation such as this.” Granberg also confirmed that the school is in communication with D.C. and the Metropolitan police, who are providing “an increased security presence on and around University Yard.”

“I understand and fully share the deep concern many feel about the status of the protest. Many are frustrated that it is continuing; some are willing for it to proceed indefinitely. At GW, our commitment remains to regain and maintain the safety and security of University Yard, pursue accountability for those who have destroyed university property and harassed our community, and return our university to normal operations,” Granberg said.

She continued, “This includes, of course, allowing and promoting the free exercise of various viewpoints and means of expression by members of our community within the limits of university policies. We continue to ask for the full support of our partners, including the District of Columbia, in pursuing these aims.”

The university is far from the only one struggling with how to respond to these anti-Israel encampments that have popped up at several colleges nationwide. The protesters have sought to get their universities to meet their demands, which largely include divesting from any weapons manufacturers, Israel, and any company that has ties with Israel.

There have been instances at these encampments where pro-Palestinian protesters have espoused anti-semitism. Between that and some instances of violence and confrontations between them and pro-Israel counter-protesters, it has made university administrators wary of letting the encampments continue.

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There have been instances, as well, where university officials have sought law enforcement’s assistance in clearing the encampments, but it has at times resulted in violence as well. At least 25 people were arrested on Saturday at the University of Virginia, according to the New York Times.

Northwestern University announced last week that it reached an agreement with protesters, which, among other things, reestablishes the Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility with student, faculty, and staff representation. Brown University announced on Tuesday that it would hold a vote on whether to divest from Israel in October, in exchange for the end of the protesters’ encampment.

Multiple political and university leaders, including Granberg, have alleged that outsider agitators have gotten involved in the protests.