Penn has installed dozens of barricades around College Green and along Woodland Walk in the past few days — a decision which the University attributed to precautions relating to this week’s presidential debate.
While The Daily Pennsylvanian could not confirm the exact time the University started putting up barricades, it observed dozens of barricades being moved into the College Green area Wednesday morning — after the debate on Tuesday had concluded. By around 3:15 p.m., security personnel began moving in additional stacks of barricades and installing them along several perimeters of campus space, including the patch of grass next to Van Pelt-Dietrich Library and near the entrance to its basement.
National Students for Justice in Palestine announced Sept. 12 as a national day of action in repeated social media posts earlier this month. But Penn's Division of Public Safety attributed the additional barricades to preparation for "any potential disruptions in response to the presidential debate,” which took place at the National Constitution Center earlier this week.
“Penn Police and their security partners took additional measures to ensure the safety and security of the entire community,” DPS wrote.
Two PennCard checks were required to enter the main entrance to College Hall as of Thursday evening, including one check before the steps up to the building and one check at the door. The Ben Franklin statue — which was vandalized with red paint by pro-Palestinian activists early Thursday morning — is also surrounded by its own set of barricades. Penn security officers have also been stationed near College Hall and are checking students’ PennCards before allowing them to enter the building.
The paint on the Ben Franklin statue had been pressure washed off of the statue by 10 a.m. Thursday, and DPS wrote in a statement to the DP that Facilities and Real Estate Services personnel were “working to repair the damage.” They added that Penn Police is investigating the incident.
An “autonomous group” was responsible for the statue vandalism, according to a statement by Penn Students Against the Occupation of Palestine on Instagram.
Early Wednesday afternoon, the sidewalk on Spruce Street around 39th Street was also vandalized with spray paint reading "F*** Palestine." DPS wrote in a statement to the DP that "officers responded" to the vandalism report and that "personnel from Facilities and Real Estate Development worked to remove the paint." They added that Penn Police are investigating the incident.
The stretches of new fencing and heightened security measures come amid a year of heightened campus activism and a summer of administrative policy changes. The longest and most significant campus activism during the 2023-24 academic year was the spring's Gaza Solidarity Encampment, which took place on College Green and lasted 16 days.
Portions of College Green have been fenced off since May 10, when Penn and Philadelphia Police swept the Gaza Solidarity Encampment and arrested 33 individuals, nine of whom were Penn students. Six-foot fences surrounded much of the area through the summer, and smaller bike rack barricades have continuously remained on College Green.
In the past few days, nearly all of the grassy areas around College Hall and Van Pelt Library have been fenced off.
In June, Penn released new temporary open expression guidelines and initiated a review of the existing Guidelines on Open Expression. The new policies explicitly banned encampments and prohibited the use of “non-water soluble, semi-permanent, and permanent substances” on any University surface, including “vertical surfaces.”
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