Cal Poly Humboldt officials are closing the campus for the rest of the semester and classes are continuing remotely, as pro-Palestinian student activists refuse to end their occupation of two university buildings.
The closure means anyone on campus without permission from university police is subject to citation or arrest, the university wrote in a statement Saturday. Students living on campus are asked to limit their travel between their residence halls and dorms, and they cannot travel to other parts of campus “until further updates.”
The far northern California campus had already been closed since Monday, when dozens of students set up camp inside Siemens Hall, an academic and administrative building, at the Arcata school, in an act of “solidarity with those facing genocide in Gaza,” organizers said. said. They demanded that the university divest from Israeli companies and arms manufacturers.
University administrators called riot police to evacuate the encampment, leading to clashes with protesters and three arrests.
“Those who stay there don’t stay there for noble causes. They are criminals,” university President Tom Jackson told the Eureka Times-Standard.
Jackson also said the shutdown, which is expected to last until May 10, could impact the startup, scheduled for the next day.
“What we have seen since Monday evening is protesters attempting to break into several locked buildings on campus, which has created and continues to create an unsafe learning and working environment,” Aileen wrote Yoo, university spokesperson, in a statement. “The university has closed the campus for the safety of our university community.”
On Friday afternoon, administrators demanded that students end the occupation of two buildings, Siemens Hall and Nelson Hall East, by 5 p.m. or face arrest. Students who peacefully comply “will not be immediately arrested,” the university said, but could still face other “sanctions related to university conduct or legal implications.”
But on Friday evening, several student activists remained in Siemens Hall, saying they would not leave until the university responded to their demands, the student newspaper reported.
Cal Poly Humboldt comrades in all their glory. pic.twitter.com/sd0SErN05E
– Kenji Tomari (he/his) (@dataredistro) April 26, 2024
Photos taken inside Siemens Hall show Jackson’s office spray-painted with messages such as “Viva viva Palestina!” » and “Blood on your hands”. Protesters also scattered desks and chairs in the corridors and covered the walls with pro-Palestinian graffiti.
University administrators told the Los Angeles Times that the damage could cost the school millions of dollars.
On Thursday, Cal Poly Humboldt’s University Senate and the local California Teachers’ Association called for Jackson’s resignation and passed a vote of no confidence in his leadership based on Monday’s police response to the protest, which they say made the situation worse. Jackson said he wasn’t concerned about the votes and was more concerned about “trying to keep the campus open and finding an effective solution to an illegal occupation.”
In response to protesters’ demands for divestment, the university said its investments in Israeli companies or defense companies represented less than 1 percent of its endowment portfolio. The university’s endowment is invested in mutual funds, which often pool securities together and reflect the portfolio of several different investment managers.
“We would welcome the opportunity to discuss investment policies in the future,” they wrote in a statement shared with protesters.
Student protesters have been successful in pushing for divestment in the past. In 2014, in response to student activism, the university’s board of trustees committed to dedicating 10% of its portfolio, including mutual funds, to “green funds” without having any assets in fossil fuels.
I can’t believe more people aren’t talking about Cal Poly Humboldt. Despite threats from federal and state authorities, the students are not backing down. They occupied a second building after renaming the Seimens room “Intifada Room” and redecorating the President’s office as part of the liberated zone: pic.twitter.com/HKsPtmw6WD
-Calla (@CallaWalsh) April 27, 2024
Students on campuses across California – including UC Berkeley, Stanford and the University of Southern California – occupied their campuses last week to protest the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. The Cal Poly Humboldt encampment was one of the first to bring students out of the quadrangle and into an academic building.
To protesters, Jackson said he would like to continue the dialogue regarding Israel and Palestine outside the buildings.
“Our goal is not to be confrontational, to continue the dialogue behind the scenes and not to bring more attention to this community. This community doesn’t need this kind of national attention,” Jackson said.
California Daily Newspapers
