The colleges and universities that have set up a Gaza Solidarity Encampment

Today, students at various universities from California to Michigan have erected Gaza Solidarity Encampments, following the lead of their peers at Columbia University in New York City. The protests are calling on their universities to divest from their economic relationships with Israel. Similar student movements calling on universities to divest from the South African apartheid regime materialized in the 1970s and 1980s.

The number of campuses around North America with encampments is growing rapidly, and the crackdowns by university officials and law enforcement have been severe. Last Thursday, Columbia administrators called the NYPD to break up the protest site. 108 students were arrested, and a similar number were made aware that they had been suspended, citing their participation as justification. The next day, the number of protestors occupying the area grew, inspired by the courage of those who had been taken away by police the day before.

Columbia’s president calls for a “reset”; students and faculty walkout

At Columbia, where the encampment has been a location for protest for six days, faculty participated in a walkout, filling the area to send a message of disapproval to the administration. The university moved classes online, which the university’s president, Minouche Shafik, called a “reset” and an attempt “to deescalate the rancor” and “give all a chance to consider next steps.” Critics of the president, including many members of Columbia’s faculty who participated in a walkout on Monday, say that de-escalating tensions will be very challenging after the administrator’s initial move to deal with the encampment was to call in the police and suspend many leaders of the protest.

Last Friday, the American Association of University Professors chapter, made up of faculty from both Barnard College and Columbia, released a statement criticizing the actions of the administration, saying that they condemn “in the strongest possible terms the Administration’s suspension of students engaged in peaceful protest and their arrest by the New York City Police Department.”

The diplomatic statement released by President Shafik may be an attempt to win back some faculty members who have become vocal critics of the administration as events have unfolded. But many are waiting for action to correct an unjust situation.

Where have encampments been erected?

The harsh response from the administration has only strengthened the conviction of Columbia students, and their example has been cited by student activists across the country who have organized to erect their own solidarity encampments.

So far, encampments of varying sizes have been established on the following campuses:

The Harvard Crimson, the Ivy League paper, reported on Monday that the decision by the administration to close Harvard Yard, a common site for student protests, in anticipation that students could follow the lead of activists at other universities. Leaders at Harvard are not alone, as many administrators across the country are preparing for similar actions to be taken on their campuses.