Princeton

13 Trespass Summonses for an Hour Inside Clio Hall: Princeton's University Statement Replaced an Alert as Public Safety Cleared the Graduate School Dean's Office

Monday, April 29, 2024NJcivil unrestadvisoryhigh confidence

Confirmed Threat

Late on the afternoon of April 29, 2024, a group of pro-Palestinian protesters briefly occupied Clio Hall — the Greek-Revival home of the Princeton Graduate School administration south of Nassau Hall — and were arrested by Princeton Public Safety and Princeton Borough Police within roughly an hour. Thirteen people were given trespass summonses, including five undergraduates, six graduate students, one postdoc, and one non-affiliate. Princeton communicated the action through a University statement on the Office of Communications page and the McCosh Courtyard sit-in continued for days afterward.

Alerts: 1
Response: —
Killed: 0
Injured: 0

Institution

Princeton University

Private R1 · NJ

~8,800 studentsTigerAlert

Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

1 message in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

INITIAL ALERTEmailApril 30, 2024 EDT — VP Calhoun's official message to students the morning after the Clio Hall takeover

Verified verbatimPrinceton University Office of the Vice President for Campus Life, message from VP W. Rochelle Calhoun (April 30, 2024)401 chars

Dear students, I write to update you about the brief takeover of Clio Hall yesterday afternoon. This incident represented an escalation by protestors into unlawful behavior that created a dangerous situation for protestors, University staff, and law enforcement. As protestors entered Clio Hall, our staff found themselves surrounded, yelled at, threatened, and ultimately ordered out of the building.

Verbatim opening of VP W. Rochelle Calhoun's message published on campuslife.princeton.edu the day after the Clio Hall takeover

Distributed as a university statement rather than as a TigerAlert push notification — Princeton reserves TigerAlert (formerly PTENS, renamed in October 2018) for active threats and used the press-release channel for this controlled enforcement action

Framing the incident as 'an escalation by protestors into unlawful behavior' echoes President Eisgruber's separate same-day message that called the conduct 'completely unacceptable'

The phrase 'brief takeover' is the institutional acknowledgement that the building was held for only about an hour before officers cleared it

Context

Background

Princeton University is a private Ivy League R1 institution of about 8,800 students. After pro-Palestinian protesters established the McCosh Courtyard 'Gaza Solidarity Encampment' on April 25, 2024, Princeton Public Safety arrested two graduate students for trespass that morning, while the encampment continued. On the afternoon of Monday, April 29, 2024, a group of protesters entered Clio Hall — the historic Greek-Revival building south of Nassau Hall that houses the Princeton Graduate School administration, including the office of Dean of the Graduate School Rodney Priestley. According to a statement from Princeton Israeli Apartheid Divest (PIAD), the action was intended to force the university into divestment negotiations. Within roughly an hour, Princeton Public Safety and Princeton Borough Police arrested 13 individuals — five undergraduates, six graduate students, one postdoc researcher, and one non-affiliate — and issued trespass summonses. The arrested students were placed on interim suspension and barred from campus. Princeton communicated the action through a same-day University statement rather than push a TigerAlert emergency notification, mirroring the pattern set by Yale, MIT, and other peer institutions in the spring 2024 wave: alert systems were reserved for active threats while planned enforcement actions were communicated by statement. In the months that followed, a Princeton municipal judge dismissed charges against most of the Clio Hall protesters, though some defendants continued to face charges into 2025.

Analysis

Key Findings

Princeton used a University statement rather than a TigerAlert push notification — preserving the alert system for active threats while still publicly documenting the enforcement action

13 trespass summonses were issued: five undergraduates, six graduate students, one postdoc researcher, and one non-affiliate, a composition Princeton repeatedly cited

Arrested students were placed on interim suspension and barred from campus pending the disciplinary process — a fast operational lever that bypassed the usual notice-and-hearing convention

The Clio Hall occupation lasted roughly one hour before officers cleared the building, one of the shortest building-occupation episodes in the spring 2024 wave

A Princeton municipal judge dismissed charges against most of the arrested protesters in subsequent hearings, though some cases continued into 2025

Outcome

13 trespass summonses; the building was cleared in approximately one hour. Princeton later threatened expulsion and barred the arrested students from campus. A Princeton municipal judge dismissed charges against most of the Clio Hall protesters in 2024-25, with [some cases continuing into 2025](https://paw.princeton.edu/article/15-campus-protesters-still-face-charges-after-court-hearing).

Provenance

Sources

Student Paper
Clio Hall occupation ends in 13 arrests, sit-in relocates to Cannon Green (Daily Princetonian)
dailyprincetonian.com
Official
Pro-Palestinian Protesters at Princeton Attempt Sit-In at Clio Hall (Princeton Alumni Weekly)
paw.princeton.edu
Student Paper
Day five of Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Princeton (Daily Princetonian)
dailyprincetonian.com
Official
Clio Hall Protest Trial in Municipal Court Delayed Until June (Princeton Alumni Weekly)
paw.princeton.edu
Official
Judge Dismisses Charges Against Clio Hall Protesters, Asks for Apology (Princeton Alumni Weekly)
paw.princeton.edu
Official
15 Campus Protesters Still Face Charges After Court Hearing (Princeton Alumni Weekly)
paw.princeton.edu

Alert Sequence

Background

Key Findings

Sources

Related Cases