Two Orange County pro-Palestinian encampments, one at UC Irvine and the other at Chapman University, continued on Friday, with no signs the protestors will be forced out or that the schools will move forward with the students’ demands.
UC Irvine and Chapman students and other protesters are calling on the universities to divest from companies with ties to Israel and weapon manufacturers. The on-campus encampment at UCI of around 20 tents entered its fifth day – tents first went up on Monday. At Chapman University in Orange, the group of student protestors is smaller, with less than 10 tents set up Thursday and several dozen students and some faculty members in the encampment, but that number is growing, organizers said.
Representatives with both universities said there were no new developments to share as of Friday morning. A Chapman spokesperson also said, “It was a very peaceful night and only Chapman students were allowed to remain on campus.”
Dariush, a freshman Chapman student who asked his last name be omitted for safety reasons, said the students’ first night was mostly peaceful with “minor heckling” from passing students. He added that the university’s public safety officers stayed around to supervise the camp.
Chapman student organizers created a schedule for Friday similar to Thursday’s, filled with writing letters to Palestine, chant teachings and celebrating Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, in the evening. The students’ goal is not only to pressure the university to divesting, but to also raise awareness on campus to the violence in Gaza, organizers have said.
Chapman organizers had not received word from administrators as of early Friday.
An Instagram account affiliated with the UCI protest posted that there will be a faculty rally in support of the protest Friday afternoon outside of Rowland Hall.
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