San Jose State students set up a pro-Palestine encampment at a well-known spot on campus celebrating protest, but by Tuesday afternoon, university officials had warned that the site had to be cleared within hours or students involved might be sanctioned.
The encampment sprung up on Monday night near the statues of Tommie Smith and John Carlos, legendary San Jose State athletes whose demonstration at the 1968 Olympics drew global attention.
A university spokesperson confirmed that a message posted at the site, warning that the encampment must be cleared by 6 p.m. Tuesday, was from the university. At press time Tuesday afternoon, the encampment remained in place and no official action had been taken to clear it.
On Tuesday morning, Palestinian flags and signs calling for university divestment from companies supporting Israel waved through the encampment, which consists of over 20 tents and canopies, with dozens of people participating.
According to a written list of demands posted at the site, the students called on the university to be transparent about their investments and holdings and fully divest from any companies that provide aid and weapons to Israel. They also called for the university to acknowledge a genocide in Gaza, end the repression of Palestinian students, staff, faculty and their allies, and to fire a professor that was involved in an altercation with a student protester earlier this year.
The university’s Associated Students organization passed a resolution on April 29, stating that the student leadership would no longer buy products from companies affiliated with Israel.
Sang Kil, a professor in justice studies at the university, said that a coalition of students began the encampment near the statues of Smith and Carlos, intent on emulating significant historical figures that acted with bravery during a time of repression. They said the action more than 50 years ago resonated with the student protesters in the encampment, comparing their actions against silence and genocide to the university’s history of civil rights and activism.
Multiple people at the encampment on Tuesday morning declined to speak to a Bay Area News Group reporter.
University spokesperson Michelle Smith McDonald said in a interview Tuesday that sit-ins had been occurring on campus between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. for several days last week, but they didn’t extend into the weekend.
On Monday, tents were erected during a pro-Palestine rally around 3:30 p.m. Kil said that at around 10 p.m., 20 people were at the encampment.
Kil said the encampment was part of a greater mobilization movement of students who are criticizing what they see as silence, poor media coverage and a general lack of outrage against the genocide of Palestinian people in the Israeli occupation of their land.
“This will do great good for Palestinians by doing the right thing and pushing back against the silence that allows the genocide to continue,” Kil said.
McDonald said that the encampment was a violation of the university’s Time, Place and Manner policy, as any activism on campus should be kept between the hours of 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. McDonald said that eight to 10 students stayed overnight, which violated the policy.
On Tuesday afternoon, a university official posted a sign in front of the encampment, informing students of the school’s position that the encampment violates policy and that it had to be removed by 6 p.m. The sign also stated that university officials were “prepared to meet” with 3 enrolled SJSU students representing SJSU for Gaza.
Officials also noted that amplified noise would be prohibited during the school’s finals week, which begins Wednesday. Students involved in prohibited activities, including maintaining the encampment after 6 p.m., may be subject to proceedings laid out in the school’s student code of conduct.
“We will do everything within our power to make sure that no one’s final exams are disrupted, that there’s not an opportunity for anyone to be distracted, disrupted by anything happening on the lawn,” McDonald said.
McDonald said that the university doesn’t have any direct investments with any companies that students are concerned about. She said officials were checking to make sure that they do not invest in any companies listed in the Associated Students’ resolution.
The students set up their encampment around the statues of Smith and Carlos — who famously raised black gloved fists in protest on the medal stand at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968 — and placed signs and flags on the statues. McDonald said the university is also asking students to not engage with the statues, because they are special to the university.
The professor said they are not leading the encampment or the students’ actions, but they are there to support them.
“This encampment is the heart of San Jose State University,” Kil said. “The students are the heart of this university and they need support 100%.”