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How Rutgers student protest came to an agreed end [1]
['Hannah Gross']
Date: 2024-05-06 04:11:31+00:00
Around 3 p.m. on Thursday, a group of about 100 Rutgers faculty members prepared to form a circle around the students in their pro-Palestinian encampment on Voorhees Mall at Rutgers University – New Brunswick.
With one hour to go until the university’s 4 p.m. deadline for the encampment to be cleared — either by the students’ choice or by law enforcement — faculty were prepared to risk arrest to protect their students from violence.
Members of the student-led camp established a jail support system and shared precautions with those prepared to risk arrest, such as giving their valuables to someone who is only witnessing an arrest or tightening the privacy settings on their phones. People prepared to record any instances of police violence and to share them.
But as the 4 p.m. deadline neared, the mood began to shift. Student negotiators with the Endowment Justice Collective were close to an agreement with administrators. Rutgers offered the students concessions on eight of their 10 demands so long as the students cleared their encampment by 4 p.m. Otherwise, the school warned members of the encampment would be considered to have trespassed and be removed “with the assistance of law enforcement.”
A negotiated solution
So, Rutgers – New Brunswick students peacefully ended their pro-Palestinian encampment. Their negotiated resolution stands in stark contrast to other universities across the country where rather than brokering a deal, universities used police force to clear pro-Palestinian encampments, often resulting in violence and mass arrests. At Rutgers, students and administrators both said de-escalation was a central part of their negotiation strategy.
Student negotiators with the Endowment Justice Collective brought the offer to the encampment around 3:30 p.m. and members of the encampment agreed to take the deal. Divestment from certain Israeli companies and dissolving Rutgers’ partnership with Tel Aviv University were not included in the deal.
After agreeing to accept the offer, students cheered and began packing up the encampment — breaking down tents and creating large piles of sleeping bags and signs. By 6:30 p.m. Voorhees Mall was clear. Rutgers police remained on-site throughout the day but did not physically engage with protestors.
“I feel like we are being heard and recognized. After the past two semesters we’ve had, this is the first time where there is a conversation, an active conversation, with administration, with being heard, with them listening to the Palestinian students who have been suffering and who have been harmed within the last seven to eight months,” said one student organizer before the agreement was reached.
Credit: (Hannah Gross/NJ Spotlight News)
Student organizers with the Endowment Justice Collective and Students for Justice in Palestine involved in the encampment declined to share their names.
In a message announcing the agreement, Rutgers – New Brunswick Chancellor Francine Conway said Rutgers is committed to prioritizing safe and peaceful resolution through open dialogue. “Together, we can serve as a model for our community, nation, and the world,” Conway said.
Wave of ‘Gaza solidarity encampments’
Students, who established their encampment on April 29 at Voorhees Mall on the College Avenue campus, said their goal was having their demands met and they did not want to see an escalation like what has happened at nearby schools.
Credit: (Hannah Gross/NJ Spotlight News)
More than 2,500 people had been arrested in similar campus protests across the country as of Friday afternoon, according to The Appeal, a news site that focuses on criminal justice. This includes 15 arrests for trespassing at New Jersey’s Princeton University. In New York City, close to 300 protestors were arrested at Columbia University and the City College of New York.
The “Gaza solidarity encampment” was ongoing at Princeton as of Friday afternoon. About a dozen students there had begun a hunger strike they said will continue until the administration agrees to meet with students to discuss divestment and criminal and disciplinary amnesty is granted to the 15 people who were arrested. Students at the Rutgers – Newark campus also started an encampment on Wednesday which continued as of Friday afternoon. Protesters at Rutgers – Newark are calling for divestment from certain Israeli companies and have issued demands on several local issues, such as free tuition and student debt relief for Newark residents.
The university agreed to create an Arab cultural center and hire administrators and faculty with cultural competency and knowledge of Palestinian communities.
Conway’s message said she is pleased the students in New Brunswick decided to peacefully end their protest.
“This resolution was achieved through constructive dialogue between the protesting students and our leadership teams. Despite the myriad ways to address the national movement, our focus has remained on ensuring our students’ safety and our university’s smooth operation,” Conway said.
Among the demands
The demands agreed to by the university include the creation of an Arab cultural center and hiring administrators and faculty with cultural competency and knowledge of Palestinian communities.
Credit: (Hannah Gross/NJ Spotlight News)
Rutgers will also name Palestine, Palestinians and Gaza in future communications, and take stock of flags displayed on campus to ensure appropriate representation, according to the agreement. Finally, members of the encampment will not face retaliation from the university based on their involvement. Any reports of bias, harassment or discrimination against members of the school community will still be investigated.
Rutgers administrators did not agree to the New Brunswick students’ first two demands, including ending the university’s partnership with Tel Aviv University. Conway said in a statement such decisions are “outside of our administrative scope.”
Divestment: What happened?
Nor did the university agree to “divest from any firm or corporation materially participating in, benefitting from, or otherwise supporting the state of Israel’s settler colonialism, apartheid, and genocide of Palestine and the Palestinian people,” which was the students’ first demand. Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway and the chairman of the university’s Joint Committee on Investments agreed to meet with a maximum of five student representatives to discuss the divestment request, which is under review.
Student organizers with the Endowment Justice Collective said they have been pushing for this meeting for over five years.
‘If we don’t get what we want, I’ll see you back here next time,” one organizer with a megaphone warned as the encampment cleared on Thursday.
“I’m not saying this is enough or that this is where we stop on divestment. What I am saying is that this is huge, and we are also getting a lot of other things that will be helping Palestinians in Gaza and Palestinians here,” a student organizer announced to the camp just before 4 p.m. on Thursday.
The organizer added that the Endowment Justice Collective will have regular meetings with Conway where students will hold administrators responsible for holding up their end of the deal.
Credit: (Hannah Gross/NJ Spotlight News)
In April, more than 80% of Rutgers – New Brunswick students voted for the university to divest from companies that profit from or engage with human rights violations committed by the Israeli government in the student assembly spring election. Investment decisions are made by the Joint Committee on Investments and are not determined by student referendums.
Contingencies
Seventy-eight percent of students voted for the university to end its relationship with Tel Aviv University. About 8,000 of the school’s nearly 37,000 undergraduate students participated in the election.
Rutgers has a significant Palestinian population, as does the state of New Jersey. The university said in a statement that there are more than 7,000 Arab, Muslim and Palestinian students on campus.
Students and administrators have expressed a desire to continue working toward a solution together following the dismantling of the encampment. One of the chants used by protestors was a call and response: “Whose university? Our university.”
“We’re not against the university. We are against the university participating in human rights violations. If we can make a change to make Rutgers better, we should,” one student organizer said on Thursday.
The agreement states that it is contingent on the absence of further disruptions and adherence to university policies.
As the encampment cleared on Thursday afternoon, one organizer with a megaphone said: “If we don’t get what we want, I’ll see you back here next time.”
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[1] Url:
https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2024/05/how-nj-rutgers-new-brunswick-pro-palestinian-student-protest-ended-by-agreement/
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