Thousands of people were arrested in the campus protests. For students, the consequences were just beginning.

This spring, some 3,200 people were arrested on college campuses during a wave of encampments by pro-Palestinian protesters against the war in Gaza. While some schools ended the demonstrations by reaching agreements with students or simply waiting for them to leave, others called the police when protesters refused to leave.

Many students have successfully had those charges dismissed, but hundreds of cases remain unresolved on campuses with the highest number of arrests, according to an analysis of data compiled by the Associated Press and partner newsrooms. including The Boston Globe.

Some of those students face uncertainty about their academic careers, while others harbor doubts about whether or not they should remain enrolled in college. Some suffered injuries that interfered with their schoolwork.

At Emerson College in Boston, 118 people were arrested, including 69 Emerson students, as police enforced a city ordinance banning camping on public property. All were charged with disorderly conduct and granted a “release to appear before arraignment,” meaning no charges will be filed in exchange for 40 hours of community service, prosecutors said.

Owen Buxton, an Emerson student, said he suffered a concussion after police pushed him into a bronze statue in the alley where the protest took place on April 25. He took an Uber to a nearby emergency room after being released from jail.

It was the second time Buxton, 22, was arrested last semester for protesting the war in Gaza. He must complete 80 hours of community service to avoid being charged. The concussion and trauma of experiencing what he called The “state violence” made it difficult for Buxton to concentrate or participate in his classes for the rest of the spring semester, he said. Emerson allowed students to take the semester’s pass-fail test after the arrests.

“That stifled all my creativity. I didn’t do anything for months, which is unusual for me,” said Buxton, a filmmaker. “Even right now, talking is harder, getting ideas out is harder. There’s a constant haze over everything I do, and it’s really frustrating.”

A Boston Police Department spokesman said people with concerns can file complaints with its internal affairs bureau.

An Emerson spokesperson said the university “cares about the well-being of all of our students” and “encourages any student who needs physical or mental health services to seek support.”

As students return this fall, universities are bracing for more protests against Israel’s military and Hamas, and strategizing tactical decisions, including when to call the police — decisions that have lasting repercussions.

Some university leaders said calling in police was the only option to end protests that have disrupted graduation ceremonies, disrupted campus life and included instances of anti-Semitic signs and language. Student groups and some faculty members have criticized university leaders for inviting police inside their gates.

The vast majority of cases against protesters, whether against students, faculty or people with no ties to universities, involve misdemeanors or lower-level charges such as trespassing and disorderly conduct.

In many cases, officials indicated they have no intention of pursuing low-level violations, according to an AP review of data on campuses with at least 100 arrests.

In upstate New York, the Ulster County district attorney asked judges to dismiss 129 cases stemming from arrests at the State University of New York at New Paltz.

A SUNY-New Paltz Student protester Ezra Baptist said he was taken to a hospital with a concussion and a cut after he was thrown forward and hit his head during his arrest by state police. He was supposed to avoid looking at screens because of his injury and was unable to complete a class he needed to graduate in May.

New York State Police said anyone who believes officers acted inappropriately can file a complaint for investigation. Another law enforcement agency on the scene, the county sheriff’s office, said officers showed restraint and that one officer was injured when protesters threw bottles.

In St. Louis, Valencia Alvarez is waiting to hear what will happen with possible charges she and 99 others could face for an April 27 protest that lasted less than half a day at Washington University in St. Louis.

Twenty-three of those arrested were students. In June, the university gave them two options: a hearing with the Office of Student Conduct or “accept responsibility” and forgo further investigation. Alvarez chose the first option.

“I really don’t plan on staying quiet about this, and I think that’s the goal of the second option,” Alvarez said.

While he awaits the resolution of his case, Alvarez does not have the master’s degree in public health that he would have received had it not been for his arrest.

“I want that degree,” Alvarez said. “I worked four jobs during my two years at Wash U so I could pay my tuition without having to take out loans.”

Students were not the only ones who experienced the lasting effects of the protests.

Annelise Orleck, a history professor at Dartmouth College, recently restarted therapy for post-traumatic stress symptoms after being arrested in College Park on May 1. Eighty-nine people were arrested, including two journalism students whose charges were later dropped.

Orleck was charged with unlawful trespassing, but prosecutors dropped the charges in July, Orleck said. Charges against 34 people were dropped; 54 others had their charges reduced to rape; and one person faces a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest, a Hanover Police Department spokesman said.

Orleck said State police in riot gear pushed her to the ground and then knelt on her back. She told them she couldn’t breathe.

A Dartmouth spokesman declined to comment.

At UMass Amherst, students recalled a peaceful demonstration before police arrived on May 7 and arrested 134 people. UMass Chancellor Javier Reyes later wrote in a letter to the campus community that he ordered the raid as an “absolute last resort” after talks with protesters failed.

While those arrested were being processed, Charles Sullivan, a graduate student in anthropology Sullivan said one transgender woman felt humiliated by campus police. One officer forced her to describe her genitals out loud in order to go to the bathroom.

Sullivan decided to drop out of college to pursue his studies, in part because of the arrest. Sullivan will move to Ohio in the fall to pursue a doctorate, rather than continuing at UMass.

“I think, overall, I’m ready to get out of this place,” Sullivan said.

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The Associated Press’s education coverage receives financial support from several private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Rules To work with philanthropic organizations, a list of funders and coverage areas funded in AP.org.

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Associated Press writers Jake Offenhartz in New York, Michael Hill in Albany, New York, and Michael Melia in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.

You can contact Hilary Burns at [email protected]. Follow her @Hilarysburns.