On Monday, a group of demonstrators set up camp in the quad at Sacramento State in protest of the war in Gaza and in support of Palestinian people.
The group, led by Students for Justice in Palestine at Sac State, released a list of demands on social media that included divesting “from all companies and partnerships that actively participate in the occupation, colonization and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people” and defending all student activism.
“I know most people would question why are students at Sac State doing this”, Trevor Soza, a student with SJP said. “We’re doing this to pressure our campus to cut any ties with Israel, such as study abroad programs, and to support students that are protesting across the United States.”
In a letter to students and staff sent Monday, Sac State President Luke Wood said the university was focused on “ensuring that campus remains safe, and that instruction and other critical operations can continue”
“As a public university, we are committed to creating and fostering safer conditions to support student engagement in constitutionally protected activities,” Wood wrote. “Campus remains open and fully operational.”
On Monday, Sac State President Luke Wood said the encampment in the quad would be permitted to stay until 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday.
Late Tuesday night, he extended that deadline. In a statement to The State Hornet, he said: “As far as I’m concerned, the encampment can last as long as it continues to be what it is, which is a positive demonstration of free speech, as long as it’s safe, and as long as we’re making sure we’re handling the discussions in the right way.”
But Wednesday evening, the university sent out an alert to the campus community, clarifying that “the approval has been extended for a week, through midnight on Wednesday, May 8. If the encampment remains peaceful and within University policy, further extensions may be possible.”
Sac State isn’t the only campus hosting similar encampments. Thousands of demonstrators at colleges across the nation — including many right here in California — are also participating.
Demonstrators have joined the effort at a few more Northern California campuses, including at UC Davis and Santa Cruz. Over 30 protesters were arrested at California Polytechnic University, Humboldt early Tuesday morning and violent clashes broke out between demonstrators and counter-protesters at an encampment at UCLA on Tuesday night.
All of these demonstrations are being organized by individual chapters of the Students for Justice in Palestine, which says it’s supporting over 350 solidarity organizations across the U.S. These chapters are generally asking for the same things of their respective universities: to “disclose all information related to their investment portfolios, divest from genocide and colonial complicity, and defend Gaza, Palestine, and all students, staff, and faculty who stand up to Zionist ideology at all levels of the university,” the national organization says.
Unlike Cal Poly Humboldt and UCLA, whose classes and events have been moved online or canceled altogether, campus life at Sac State has buzzed on aside the encampment. Since it was set up on Monday, not much has changed, except the addition of chalk art and guard rail fencing.
Organizer Jack, whose last name has been withheld out of concern of retribution, said the fencing was requested by fellow demonstrators as protection.
"We spoke to the administration due to a safety risk that was posed by potential counter protesters,” he said. “It's been nice. It's good to know that you're sleeping in a community location with people that will look out for you and look out for your safety."
While many demonstrators are students, some come from outside the university. Jessica Lawless with the organization Jewish Voices for Peace told The State Hornet — Sac State’s student news organization — that she came to the encampment to “make sure that people understand that there are Jewish people involved who stand with the Students for Justice in Palestine.”
The Hillel at Davis and Sacramento, an organization dedicated to supporting Jewish college students in the Sacramento region, wrote on social media Monday that they were “closely monitoring this ongoing situation” and added that they were working together with campus police to “ensure the safety and well-being of all Jewish and Israeli students on campus.”
California State University officials have responded to demonstrators’ demands. In a Tuesday statement, they said the organization “affirms the right of our community members to express diverse viewpoints” but that “a divestment of this sort impinges on the academic freedom of our students and faculty and the unfettered exchange of ideas on our campuses.”
Demonstrators at Sac State, however, didn’t balk at that response. Jack, the organizer at the encampment on Wednesday, said it was “expected.”
“We remain committed to our focus for divestment, and we will be here until we get it,” he said.
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