HANOVER — Student activists at Dartmouth College are looking forward to a vote by an investment committee on a proposal that would have the college’s sizable portfolio divest from companies that support or profit from the Israeli war effort in Gaza.

The vote is one of two concessions administrators made late last week after demonstrators made a small protest encampment in front Dartmouth’s main administrative building on Thursday afternoon. The other concession was a commitment to limit U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, activity on campus.

Following what they deemed to be productive negotiations with college administrators, the collective of students disbanded their encampment Friday evening, 30 hours after erecting tents on the lawn of Parkhurst Hall — which houses President Sian Beilock’s office.

“For tonight, in this moment, this tent has served its purpose. … We have earned what we have asked for, and now we are here today to take the next step forward for the movement with what we have gained,” Dartmouth junior and protest organizer Ramsey Alsheikh told a gathered crowd Friday evening.

Around 6:30 p.m. Friday, supporters chanted “Free, Free Palestine” as a small group removed the second of two tents students had erected Thursday, on the one-year anniversary of a similar protest that saw 89 people arrested on the Dartmouth Green.

Students removed the first of the two tents Thursday night after college administrators agreed to clarify in an existing policy that ICE agents must present a judicial warrant before entering nonpublic spaces on campus, such as dorms and classrooms.

On Friday, the administration confirmed that its Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility, or ACIR, would vote on the divestment policy by “mid-May” and deliver a written explanation of its decision, college spokesperson Jana Barnello said Friday evening.

Barnello said the review process was already well underway before last week’s protest. ACIR, which includes students, staff, faculty and alumni who advise on “socially-driven investment matters” has already met eight times since February to “carefully review the proposal.”

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“We have explained that we cannot bypass the established review process,” Barnello said.

While the group is “really happy with the material wins,” from the encampment, the “campaign for divestment will still be a long campaign ahead of us,” Dartmouth student organizer Roan Wade said Monday.

As part of negotiations on Friday, the college also confirmed the upper limits of a new program to provide international students and employees financial support for outside legal services amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on student visas.

The college said it would provide up to $2,000 for affected students and employees and “always try to address special circumstances” in an April 26 announcement.

On Friday, the administration “clarified” that the limit for students with “special circumstances” is up to $5,000, Barnello said.

While no arrests were made during last week’s protest, the college began its internal conduct process late Thursday night after students refused to remove the tents, staked signs in the ground and hung flags from the sconces on Parkhurst Hall, all of which are violations of the student handbook.

A written warning distributed just before midnight threatened discipline “up to and including suspension or expulsion.”

Wade, who has one more year at Dartmouth, said the college is pursuing disciplinary action against four of the students, including them.

Wade was arrested in an encampment at the college in October 2023. They are happy no one was arrested this time around, but said they fear that the internal disciplinary process will let the college “push things under the table” because it is out of the public eye. 

“I am concerned about what impacts internal disciplinary action will have in the future of the student movement,” Wade said. “But in the meantime I knew there was a risk when I participated in the protest and I don’t plan on stopping even though I received disciplinary action.”

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

CLARIFICATION: College administrators agreed to clarify in an existing policy that ICE agents must present a judicial warrant before entering nonpublic spaces on campus, such as dorms and classrooms. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated whether this policy existed previously.