Organizers of pro-Palestinian protests at USC were set to meet again Tuesday with university President Carol Folt to discuss their demands, while there was a tense calm at UCLA following overnight fights that occurred when around 60 counter-protesters attempted to breach a protest encampment.
USC protesters met with Folt and other university officials for about 90 minutes Monday afternoon.
“The students said at the end they wouldn’t have considered this meeting a win from their perspective, and I can fully appreciate that,” Folt wrote Monday in a statement to the Daily Trojan, the campus newspaper. “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.”
The USC Divest from Death Coalition said in a statement it was “deeply disappointed that the university claims ignorance of our divest campaign.”
Folt, USC lawyer Beong-soo Kim and Vice President of Student Life Monique Allard “did not come to the meeting with any actionable insights or concrete steps to address any of our demands,” the statement said.
“Folt claims she was unaware of our divestment campaign until the start of the occupation. This is despite the fact that we launched our academic divestment campaign, Suspend Study Abroad in Israel on April 11 and organized a walkout and strike on April 15.”
Occupation organizers said before the meeting they would not be making any concessions and would “refuse any normalization in our negotiations. Our occupation will continue until our demands are met.”
A mass protest and march on the USC campus last week led to 93 arrest of people who refused orders to vacate Alumni Park. USC officials accused participants in that day’s march of vandalizing buildings and violating university rules against camping, erecting tents and posting signs. Protest participants insisted they were engaged in a peaceful action that was escalated by law enforcement. They have also lashed out at USC for inflaming the issue by canceling a commencement speech by pro-Palestinian valedictorian Asna Tabassum.
Protesters re-established a camp at USC over the weekend, and thus far, it has been allowed to remain in place.
Across town at UCLA, meanwhile, some participants in a large pro-Palestinian protest engaged in overnight confrontations with counter-protesters, leading to a response by police in riot gear.
The confrontation at UCLA began at 11:30 p.m. Monday between Powell Library and Kaplan Hall after counter-protesters used a megaphone to shout and play music in front of the encampment’s barricade in Dickson Plaza earlier in the night, according to the Daily Bruin, the campus newspaper.
A fight between members of both sides broke out around 11:40 p.m., leading six UCLA Police Department officers to separate counter-protesters and participants of the encampment, the Daily Bruin reported.
Protesters inside the encampment brought wooden planks to the Powell scaffolding to block the entrance. Contemporary Services Corp. security officers then used their bikes to create a barrier between UCLAPD officers, counter-protesters and those inside the encampment, according to the Daily Bruin.
Police in riot gear were near the entrance of the encampment just after midnight after around 40 counter-protesters attempted to push past the barricades through the entrance near Powell Library.
After UCLAPD officers left the scene at around 12:15 a.m. — walking past the Royce Hall corridor and toward Rolfe Hall — pro-Palestine protesters and counter-protesters eventually retreated inside the encampment and to Dickson Plaza outside of the encampment, respectively, according to the campus paper.
Similar violent confrontations occurred at UCLA over the weekend
“UCLA has a long history of being a place of peaceful protest, and we are heartbroken to report that today, some physical altercations broke out among demonstrators on Royce Quad,” Mary Osako, vice chancellor of UCLA Strategic Communications, said in a statement Sunday. “We have since instituted additional security measures and increased the numbers of our safety team members on site.
“As an institution of higher education, we stand firmly for the idea that even when we disagree, we must still engage respectfully and recognize one another’s humanity. We are dismayed that certain individuals instead chose to jeopardize the physical safety of the community.”
The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations on Monday called on UCLA officials to protect participants in the encampment, pointing to a video that was posted online appearing to show someone releasing a backpack filled with mice into the encampment. According to a social media post, campus security was able to gather and remove the mice.
Organizers of UCLA’s Palestine Solidarity Encampment, similar to their counterparts at USC, issued a list of demands calling for divestment of all University of California and UCLA Foundation funds from companies tied to Israel, along with a demand that the university call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and an academic boycott by UC against Israeli universities, including a suspension of study-abroad programs.
It was unclear whether all of the participants were UCLA students.
The University of California issued a statement Friday noting that the university has “consistently opposed calls for boycott against and divestment from Israel. While the University affirms the right of our community members to express diverse viewpoints, a boycott of this sort impinges on the academic freedom of our students and faculty and the unfettered exchange of ideas on our campuses.
“UC tuition and fees are the primary funding sources for the University’s core operations. None of these funds are used for investment purposes,” the statement continued.
Protest encampments also emerged Monday at UC Irvine and UC Riverside.
USC was originally the focal point of Southland Palestinian protests following its decision to cancel Tabassum’s commencement speech in response to complaints about online posts that critics called antisemitic. USC officials insisted the move was solely a security issue, not a political decision.
As tensions continued mounting — leading to last Wednesday’s mass protest — the university eventually opted to cancel its May 10 main stage commencement in Alumni Park altogether, but vowed to move forward with the usual array of smaller satellite graduation ceremonies for the school’s individual colleges.
Some of those ceremonies, however, could also be impacted by the debate over the Israel-Hamas war. Two dignitaries who had been scheduled to speak during a pair of commencement activities announced Sunday they were withdrawing from the events.
Author C Pam Zhang was scheduled to speak at a doctoral ceremony on May 8. Author Safiya U. Noble was set to speak during a May 10 masters ceremony.
“To speak at USC in this moment would betray not only our own values, but USC’s too,” the pair wrote in a letter to university administrators on Sunday. “We are withdrawing as commencement speakers. We cannot overlook the link between recent developments and the ongoing genocide in Palestine.”
The letter added, “Asna’s removal, the administration’s refusal to engage in dialogue with student protesters, and the decision to invite LAPD forces onto campus, represent a violent and targeted refusal to allow true diversity of expression to flourish on campus. The right to free speech and peaceful protest are not only fundamental to democracy, but a particular, proud feature of American universities.”
Folt sent a message to the campus community Friday saying the university had no choice but to call police during a mass protest last Wednesday. Los Angeles Police Department officers ultimately arrested 93 people who refused to leave the campus’ Alumni Park.
“This week, Alumni Park became unsafe,” Folt said in her message. “No one wants to have people arrested on their campus. Ever. But, when longstanding safety policies are flagrantly violated, buildings vandalized, (Department of Public Safety) directives repeatedly ignored, threatening language shouted, people assaulted, and access to critical academic buildings blocked, we must act immediately to protect our community.
“USC has longstanding protocols that allow for peaceful protesting, and we have been working successfully with our community to ensure these rules have been followed at gatherings, protests, and vigils taking place all year. USC also has firm rules regarding harassment and bullying that we will uphold.”