UCLA declares Palestine encampment unlawful, USC president in talks with protesters
UCLA on Tuesday, April 30, declared students’ ‘Palestine Solidarity Encampment’ unlawful and asked protesters to vacate immediately or risk disciplinary such as suspension or expulsion.
For update, see: Violent clashes break out among opposing protest factions at UCLA
Meanwhile at USC, President Caroline Folt entered the second day of talks with student protesters and announced the university was investigating the discovery of a swastika that was drawn on campus.
Tensions have been escalating at both universities over the last week, where protesters refuse to stand down until leadership meets their demands, which including divesting from companies that do business with Israel and calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Pro-Palestine protests in the region are also roiling campuses at UC Irvine, UC Riverside, Cal Poly Pomona and Pasadena City College.
UCLA delivered the notice to vacate to protesters at Royce Quad around 4 p.m. on Tuesday and sent an alert to all students notifying them two adjacent buildings, Royce Hall and Powell Library, will be shut down for the rest of the week.
“Those who choose to remain — including both students and employees — could face sanctions,” states the notice. “For students, those sanctions could include disciplinary measures such as interim suspension that, after proper due process through the student conduct process, could lead to dismissal.”
In a Tuesday evening statement, student protesters at UCLA declared the administration’s notice to vacate a “repression tactic” and a “continuation of a long history of attempts to shut down student activism and silence pro-Palestinian voices.”
Organizers said they intend to continue their occupation of Royce Quad, which was established last Thursday.
Earlier in the day, UCLA Vice Chancellor Mary Osako issued a statement saying that the university has removed metal barriers that protesters were using to control foot traffic in and around Royce Quad.
She said attempts to block student access “could lead to severe disciplinary action including expulsion or suspension” of the protestors and that “this kind of disruption to our teaching and learning mission is abhorrent, plain and simple.”
Osako also said that campus security is being expanded following altercations between protesters and counter-protesters, including “adding greater numbers of campus law enforcement, safety personnel and student affairs monitors.”
At USC, President Caroline Folt issued a statement on X condemning the discovery of a swastika on campus.
“Clearly, it was drawn there right now just to incite even more anger at a time that is so painful for our community,” she said. “We’re going to work to get to the bottom of this immediately.”
On Tuesday afternoon, Folt met for a second time with student leaders from the Divest From Death Coalition.
Tensions have been running especially high at USC following the administration’s decision to bar a Pro-Palestinian valedictorian from delivering a commencement speech and LAPD’s arrest of 93 protesters at the campus’ Alumni Park last Wednesday.
USC’s campus is closed to the public, and students have reestablished a tent encampment in Alumni Park. Folt initially met with protest organizers to discuss their demands on Monday.
In a statement on Instagram, the Divest From Death Coalition said the talks were “deeply disappointing” and “indicative of a larger pattern of the administration’s failure to address the needs of its student, faculty and surrounding community.”
Folt told the USC student newspaper the Daily Trojan that she understands students “wouldn’t have considered this meeting a win from their perspective.”
“I think we need to continue to have those conversations, and I’m pleased we all agree on that. We’ll go day by day,” she added.
Going into Tuesday’s meeting, USC protest organizers said they will not make any concessions and “our occupation will continue until our demands are met.”
While student demands vary slightly from school to school, most follow the principles of “disclose, divest, defend.” Students are asking their administrations to disclose all financial ties, divest from companies that do business with Israel, defend protesters by allowing activism to take place and defend the Palestinian people by calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
Also on Tuesday, encampments entered their second day at UC Irvine and Riverside and 300 students staged a walk-out at Pasadena City College.
“This is class. We are leading people out of ignorance,” said Grant Bridges, a theater arts major and protester at Pasadena City College.
The crowd’s chants to “free Palestine” echoed through the campus. They waved flags and DIY cardboard banners as many others looked on, some applauding, some just witnessing it all in silence.
Violet Stoeker, a political science student leader at Pasadena City College, told fellow students that the demands “will not stop.” And Kat Clark, a sociology student, said the action was important, even at a smaller school.
“Doing nothing doesn’t make a difference,” Clark said, adding that the diversity of voices at a smaller public campus amplifies the voices.
At UC Irvine, around fifty protestors continued their encampment protest, even though the administration said the tents were “unauthorized.”
Members of the Irvine Police Department and Orange County Sheriff’s Department were present on campus on Monday, prompting Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan to issue a statement asking law enforcement to stand down.
“I will not tolerate any violations to our students’ rights to peacefully assemble and protest,” she said.
In addition to the 93 arrests made at USC, 20 arrests were made at Pomona College on April 5 and 25 protesters were arrested at Cal Poly Humboldt on Tuesday morning.
Members of Arab American Civic Council, a grassroots organization based in Anaheim, released a statement saying they were very alarmed by the recent police response on college campuses.
“We are deeply concerned about the recent events at the University of Southern California and Pomona College, where peaceful demonstrations to oppose U.S. complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza have been met with excessive force and punitive measures by law enforcement,” they wrote. “These incidents represent a blatant violation of students’ constitutional right to protest and express their views without fear of repression or retaliation.”
Daily News photographer Sarah Reingewirtz and City News Service contributed to this report