HANOVER — On Thursday night — one year after law enforcement officers from across the state made mass arrests on the Dartmouth Green during a pro-Palestinian protest — about 65 people gathered on the lawn in front of the college’s main administration building for a candlelight vigil.

Like last year, protesters had erected tents, but this time President Sian Leah Beilock’s administration didn’t call in police. Instead the college negotiated with student activists over the course of about 10 hours.

Hanover police drove past the demonstration in cars and on bicycles throughout the day and into the night, but did not interact with students.

Meanwhile, Dartmouth College Safety & Security officers patrolled nearby and watched proceedings through the windows of Parkhurst Hall, the main administration building.

The lack of police response stood in stark contrast with the events of May 1, 2024, when Upper Valley law enforcement agents and state troopers arrested 89 people, including students, professors and community members within two hours of tents being erected on the Dartmouth Green.

Last year’s protest and this year’s were both held on International Workers’ Day, recognized annually on May 1 to honor labor movements and workers.

The difference in the response to the two peaceful protests reflects new protocols established “over the last year,” to be used “when protest falls outside the bounds of Dartmouth policies,” Jana Barnello, a spokesperson for the college, said Friday.

In a warning delivered to the students late Thursday night, Dartmouth administrators identified two college policy violations involving the use of tents, flags and other equipment. The notice also referenced vandalism, which Ed McKenna, Dartmouth’s director of civic engagement, told the crowd could refer to stakes put in the ground to hold the tents and protest signs.

“This approach involves engaging, observing, mediating, and advising, and will continue as long as the safety of the community — including the safety of the protesters — is not at risk,” Barnello said.

At about 12:40 p.m. on Thursday, students erected two small tents on the lawn in front of Parkhurst Hall, which houses Beilock’s office.

Students said they would only take down the tents, if the college met their two demands.

They wanted the board of trustees to agree to vote on divesting from companies that support the Israeli war effort in Gaza and also for the college to commit to keeping U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, off campus.

“We’re planning on holding out as long as we can,” Dartmouth senior Roan Wade said early Thursday afternoon. “It’s really in the(administration’s) hands if they’re willing to meet our demands.”

The number of demonstrators ebbed and flowed as people arrived for pre-scheduled events. A core group of about 15 students remained in and around the encampment well into the night. A smaller group stayed on the lawn into the morning, enduring a downpour beginning around midnight.

Many of those gathered in the encampment were wearing keffiyeh , a traditional Arab headdress, on their heads and over their faces. The two tents were decorated with Palestinian flags. On the sidewalk leading to Parkhurst, students wrote phrases like “cops off campus,” “antizionist not antisemitic,” “divest don’t arrest” and “Free Palestine” in blue and yellow chalk.

Just before 3 p.m., students attached two flags to the sconces on the front of Parkhurst and used chalk to write “dare to struggle, dare to win,” and “it is right to rebel” on the facade.

This year, the college assigned Jennifer Rosales, senior vice president for community and campus life, to negotiate with the students. She frequently emerged from the administration building to deliver new offers to the group. Rosales declined to comment Thursday.

According to a college spokeswoman, Beilock was on campus Thursday. She was not seen emerging from the administrating building, which has a rear entrance.

Protesters chanted “Beilock, Beilock, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide. Beilock, Beilock drop the case, you can’t even show your face,” during a scheduled 5 p.m rally to honor International Workers Day, and its ties to Dartmouth’s recent history, national politics and the war in Gaza.

The rally drew more than 100 people, the largest crowd of the day. Speakers included several of those who were arrested at last year’s protest.

Early in the evening, the college agreed to meet one of the students’ two demands. ICE agents must now present a judicial warrant before entering nonpublic spaces, such as dorms and classrooms, on campus. The announcement elicited a resounding cheer from the crowd around 6 p.m. As part of the deal, organizers agreed to take down one of the two tents.

Organizers did not make as much progress on their second request that Dartmouth trustees agree to review and vote on the students’ divestment proposal.

Still, in the early evening, Dartmouth junior Ramsey Alsheikh said the turnout for the event, the progress and ongoing negotiations and that police had not yet been called meant “we’ve already won big.”

But, he added, “at the end of the day, there’s a genocide in Palestine.”

More than 50,000 people have died in the Gaza Strip since Israel began its offensive there in October 2023, following a Hamas-led attack that killed 1,200 Israelis and the taking of 250 hostages, some of whom are still being held.

Outside the cluster of students, others maintained a constant presence throughout the day and night on Thursday, including supporters, college staff and faith leaders keeping a watchful eye, and representatives from the National Lawyers Guild.

Molly Geidel, a Dartmouth professor of women’s, gender and sexuality studies, sat with a group throughout the afternoon and into the night, wearing a keffiyeh over her shoulders.

Geidel said she arrived for the rally at noon because “there’s a genocide. I suppose for me it’s hard to think about anything else.”

After the tents went up, Geidel said, “I thought I should stay and help protect them should anything bad happen.”

Canaan resident Gail Kinney, a member of the clergy for the United Church of Christ, attended the evening rally to support the college’s student workers collective, especially international students who are “frankly in great danger at this point on every campus in the country,” she said.

As the evening wore on and the crowd dwindled, negotiations stalled just before midnight.

At 11:30, it began to rain on the remaining students and Dartmouth’s McKenna delivered written warnings to begin the college disciplinary process.

Failure to comply with the warning “will subject you to College discipline, up to and including suspension or expulsion,” the notices read.

In a late-stage act of protest, the students tore up many of these papers and dropped them at the door of the locked administration building.

The protest continued through the day Friday. Wade was one of the last students still camped out at 8:20 a.m. Friday while Dartmouth Safety & Security Officers collected signs, blankets, flags and other items, leaving the one occupied tent.

Clare Shanahan can be reached at cshanahan@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.