One-on-one with Vanderbilt University chancellor about the tension on college campuses

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Across the country, college students are participating in dozens of protests over the Israel-Hamas war.

Some are intense, including the Thursday morning protest at UCLA in Los Angeles.

In Nashville, part of Vanderbilt University's campus has turned into a protest space. A vocal group of students wants the university to stop spending money on companies that do business in Israel. In protest, they actually set up an encampment a few weeks back.

In his first interview on local television, Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier talked about the tension.

"One of the things that makes this particular situation and issue challenging is that we have students that feel very strong on both sides of the issue," Diermeier said.

Back in March, around 27 student demonstrators — who wanted to talk to the chancellor about divesting funds entered a locked building — occupied it for 20 hours and then were disciplined.

"We had a couple of expulsions, some suspensions and some probations. Overall, our community really did well, but we had that incident where we had to take action because fundamental rules of student conduct were violated," Diermeier said.

An Associated Press tally counted at least 38 times since April 18 where arrests were made at campus protests across the U.S. More than 1,600 people have been arrested at 30 schools.

According to Chancellor Diermeier, there haven't been any clashes between students at Vanderbilt with different views.

"Some are very Pro-Palestinian some are very Pro-Israeli and that creates a dynamic that is pretty rare and makes it particularly challenging," Diermeier said.

The chancellor said institutional neutrality and a 2022 Tennessee anti-boycott law are why the school won't be taking a stand on the present conflict.

"The students still have the freedom to ask for these things. That's part of their freedom. They can make their case, they can have their voices heard, but from our point of view — both because it's inconsistent with our values and state law — these are not the type of activities we would engage in as a university," Diermeier said.

As the school year comes to a close, the chancellor hopes it ends at Vanderbilt on a positive note.

"(I hope) that we do not forget our commitment to each other as members of a living-learning community that comes together to explore ideas, have discussions together, treats each other with respect and creates an environment where everyone can grow and realize their full potential," Diermeier said.