Students rally against Northrop Grumman and defense companies at HMC career fair

On Sept. 25 at 11 a.m., 40 students led by Mudders Against Murder rallied against a 5C career fair hosted by Harvey Mudd College at the Linde Activities Center. Students called for HMC to cut ties with weapons manufacturers and defense companies, including Northrop Grumman, Mach Industries, and Keysight, who were all recruiting at the career fair. 

For the past two semesters, MAM has called on the college to end its clinic program and career fairs’ ties with defense companies. At the end of the Spring 2024 semester, over a third of the student body had signed a petition supporting MAM’s demands. 

‘Harvey Mudd you must cut ties, you partake in genocide” students chanted in front of the activities center.

The San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department was also present at the career fair.

According to a student speaker, over 40% of companies at the career fair were defense affiliated, including Northrop Grumman, Mach Industries, Keysight Technologies, TrellisWare Technologies, Honeybee Robotics, Higher Ground, Divergent, ServiceNow, Laserfiche, Snowflake, and Radiant.

Northrop Grumman, which is the world’s third largest military company as of 2022 with $31.4 billion in annual revenue– 88% of which is from its defense sector– provides the Zionist entity with parts used in Apache AH54D helicopters and produces parts of F-16 fighter jets, according to ASFC Investigate.

The San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department was also present at the career fair. Two students told Undercurrents that they saw the sheriff’s deputies in full uniform and open-carrying handguns inside the career fair. 

“A sheriff walked towards the students and stood just off to the side while watching them,” a student, who asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons, said to Undercurrents. “I noticed that the officer had on a full uniform, including a handgun. I felt more unsafe by the presence of an armed police officer than the peaceful protest nearby.”

Campus safety uses military grade sirens, physical force against student protesters

During the demonstration, students held out a banner that read “HMC: Cut Defense Ties” in front of the activities center. Shortly before 11:30 a.m., students moved towards the career fair, eventually reaching the entrance. In response, five Campus Safety officers and three CSS personnel formed a line to block students from entering the activities center.

On multiple occasions when students attempted to enter the activities center, Campus Safety officers shoved, grabbed, and pushed students away from the entrance. A student walking through the courtyard was yanked backwards while another student was repeatedly shoved by Campus Safety. At 11:30 a.m., students pushed through the line of Campus Safety officers and entered the courtyard in front of the entrance to the activities center. 

Immediately after students entered the courtyard, Campus Safety Director Mike Hallinan brought out a loud speaker that was mounted on a Campus Safety golf cart. The speaker looped a dispersal speech multiple times before playing a loud piercing siren at protestors.

The recorded message said, “Your conduct infringes on the rights of others and is in violation of college policy. You must stop the disruptive behavior immediately. For your safety and the safety of others, we are directing you to disperse immediately. If you fail to comply with this request to leave the area, you will be subject to investigation, and discipline for student code violation, and possible arrest. Non-HMC persons are notified to leave this unlawful gathering and depart from campus immediately.”

The day after the action, HMC President Harriet B. Nembhard sent an email to students, faculty and staff titled “Update Regarding Wednesday’s Career Fair.” 

Nembard confirmed in her email email that the siren was a Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD), which are specialized loudspeakers used by police to control crowds and protests. Campus safety revealed in a statement that the LRAD was played at 90 decibels (dB) for the dispersal speech and 94 dB for the siren during the protest. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the World Health Organization, a safe decibel volume is 70 dB. Nembhard also attached a PDF of a datasheet about the LRAD model in her email.

Despite this, students continued to chant by the entrance to the activities center, banging on the windows and doors for several minutes. HMC blocked all entrances to the building for over 30 minutes, preventing all students from entering and trapping employees and career fair attendees inside. 

The action marked the first time Campus Safety has ever used an LRAD before. Other campus administrators have also recently introduced military-grade weapons to their campuses. On Sept. 19, the University of California Board of Regents approved UCLA and other UC police departments requests for 3000 rounds of pepper munitions, 500 rounds of 400 mm impact munitions, 12 drones and 9 grenade launchers. 

At 11:38 a.m., students walked back to the lawn, ending the action with two student speeches as the Campus Safety dispersal message continued to play in the background.

Hallinan also played the LRAD multiple times while students were giving speeches. One student speaker at the rally said, “Let your students speak, cowards!” 

One of the speakers concluded, “Right here where we stand, we are in a place of brutal contradiction. They try to sell us an illusion, an illusion of freedom. They are not offering you jobs, they are offering you a role in the empire of violence.”