click to enlarge - Rachel Hellman ©️ Seven Days
Student activists at the University of Vermont and Middlebury College on Sunday established encampments to protest the war in Gaza, joining a rapidly spreading movement.
Roughly 50 UVM students pitched tents on the Andrew Harris Commons on Sunday afternoon. Fifteen or so tents were tightly clustered in the central campus location when Seven Days visited. Students continued to set up tents as rain poured down.
“We all feel a duty to humanity to stop this genocide,” James, a third-year UVM student who declined to share his last name, told Seven Days. “Our university has financial ties to the occupation of Palestine, and that’s what we’re here for.”
A fresh wave of pro-Palestinian student activism has swept the nation following the arrest of students at Columbia University in New York last week. Police interventions on campuses have led to more than 800 arrests.
Student activists at UVM are also protesting their May 18 commencement speaker: Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Thomas-Greenfield vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a humanitarian pause to Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip in February.
According to James, the students who organized the UVM encampment span multiple student groups, including Students for Justice in Palestine and UVM Jews for Liberation. The group has been using Telegram, an encrypted messaging app, to communicate.
Their demands, which are listed on the UVM Students for Justice in Palestine Instagram account, are that the university disclose all financial investments of its endowment; divest “from all weapon manufacturers, Israeli companies, and companies involved in the occupation of historic Palestine”; grant amnesty for all students engaged in protest; engage in an academic boycott of Israeli institutions; and cancel Thomas-Greenfield's commencement speech.
As evening drew on, Jewish Voice for Peace, UVM Jews for Liberation and UVM Students for Justice in Palestine led campers and other participants in what they called a "liberation seder." The 100 or so people present sang "Dayenu," a Jewish prayer of gratitude, and listened to a reading of the Haggadah, the text Jews recite at the Seder on the first two nights of Passover.
Students said they will camp out until their demands are met, despite their looming finals. The last day of classes is May 3, with exams shortly afterward.
A handful of university police officers stood on Sunday evening on the edges of the commons. UVM Police Chief Tim Bilodeau told Seven Days that they would respond to the encampment according to university policy.
“We’re trying to ensure the safety of everyone involved,” Bilodeau said. “We want to respect [students'] right to free speech and expression, of course, but there is also a policy in place.”
In a written statement, Adam White, executive director of university communications, said UVM officials had informed participants on Sunday afternoon that they were violating campus policy that forbids the "erection of any temporary structures on campus grounds without the appropriate permission of the university."
“Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to speak up and speak out," the statement said, "as long as they do so within the law and university policy, which places clear and reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions on all campus activities."
James said the student protestors were undeterred by the police presence.
“In the middle of the genocide and war and the fear of police crackdowns, we’re here,” he said. “We will be here until our demands are met.”
At Middlebury College, students made similar demands and also vowed to stay in tents until they're met or until graduation, according to a report in the Middlebury Campus student newspaper.
“We are in it for the long haul. We want the administration to respond to what we’re asking of them," senior Oliver Patrick told the paper. "We’re willing to stay here as long as necessary."
click to enlarge - Rachel Hellman ©️ Seven Days