Pro-Palestine protests spread to more Colorado college campuses as Auraria encampment continues in Denver

Thursday, May. 02, 2024

Student protests against the Israel-Hamas war spread to college campuses throughout Colorado this week as a solidarity encampment at Denver’s Auraria Higher Education Campus entered its seventh day.

Demonstrations at the University of Colorado Boulder, University of Denver, Colorado State University, University of Northern Colorado and Colorado College called for a cease-fire and for campus leaders to divest from activities and funding related to Israel.

Metropolitan State University and CU Denver student organizers met with Auraria officials Tuesday “to try to achieve an amicable path forward,” the campus said in a news release.

“(Students for a Democratic Society) leaders indicated that they are engaging in ‘civil disobedience;’ they recognize that they are in violation of the campus no-camping policy; and they have no intention of removing the tents until their demands are met,” Auraria officials said in a statement.

Auraria and Denver police arrested 44 demonstrators Friday for violating the campus camping policy after an hours-long clash between riot-gear-clad officers and student, faculty and community protesters.

Campus leaders are trying to portray students as unreasonable and uncompromising, said student organizer Harriet Falconetti.

“We are being uncompromising, but that’s because we don’t want to compromise on genocide,” Falconetti said. “SDS has been protesting about this issue on campus for months and (the administration) hasn’t come to the table with us. They’ve stonewalled us.”

The students’ demands are largely outside of CU Denver Chancellor Michelle Marks’ purview, Auraria officials said in the news release. The CU Board of Regents met in executive session Monday and Wednesday to receive legal advice on protests.

Protests also caught on at other Colorado college campuses this week, with students and community members organizing rallies and other events from Greeley to Colorado Springs.

In Boulder, nearly 50 students gathered outside the University Memorial Center just before noon Wednesday to stage a “die in” reflecting Palestinian deaths before marching to Norlin Library, the Daily Camera reported.

Students at Colorado College walked out of class Wednesday morning in support of Palestine, the Colorado Springs Gazette reported, and approximately 250 students, faculty and alumni gathered on Tava Quad to protest.

About 350 people joined a rally Monday at Colorado State University to ask campus leaders to demand a ceasefire and divest from support for Israel’s military, the Fort Collins Coloradoan reported. 

And in Greeley, 14 students walked across campus on Monday morning, chanting and holding signs supporting Palestine, student journalists at the UNC Mirror reported.

Auraria campus officials said they asked student organizers to “continue the dialogue to come up with creative ways to move forward,” according to a Tuesday news release.

But in a statement on Instagram, student organizers said administrators have engaged in “minimal, if not nonexistent” effort to engage with students and address their demands.

“Until our demands are met, we will continue to stand in solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters and uphold our right to dissent,” the group said.

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