Thousands of students at Cal State Los Angeles began the fall semester with new protest rules after disputes over pro-Palestinian encampments caused disruption and tension last spring.
The rules prohibit encampments, barricades and overnight demonstrations, and restrict the use of face masks. They also list illegal activities, including vandalism, occupation of a building and refusal to disperse in violation of the law.
The California State University, the nation’s largest public university system, was the first to issue new restrictions in the state. Several other universities, including the UC system, followed.
“Encampments are disruptive and can cause a hostile environment for some community members,” CSU spokesperson Hazel Kelly told Boyle Heights Beat in a written statement. “We have an obligation to ensure that all community members can access university property and programs.”
With just two weeks into the new academic year, students who returned to campus had mixed reactions over the new policies.
“It’s a pretty aggressive approach,” said Josh Jeronimo, a sophomore studying film. “I think they should’ve had more discussion about that before they came to an actual decision.”
Jeronimo said student protests and conversations should still be encouraged by university leaders to promote continued student activism.
Freshman Carmen Vera was still in high school when the protests started. “I feel like it’s good that people are bringing attention to [the war], but I wouldn’t really agree with the way that [the protesters] did it or the way that it ended up,” she said, referring to the occupation of the Student Services building. “I think there are different ways of protesting. Hopefully, we find a way to better bring something into light.”
At Cal State Los Angeles, protesters established a solidarity encampment in early May. President Berenecea Johnson Eanes visited the encampment several times to negotiate with protesters, who were led by a group called Students for Justice in Palestine. The demands included financial transparency regarding the school’s investments in Israeli companies and pressured administration to divest from said groups, as San Francisco State University did last week. In response, university officials published a website in late August detailing the institution’s financial approach, but did not specify foreign investments.
In June, after weeks of peaceful demonstrations, protesters barricaded themselves inside the Student Services building. Property was vandalized, prompting university officials to clear the encampment days later.
The group that organized the encampment, Students for Justice in Palestine (the name has since changed), could not arrange an interview with Boyle Heights Beat by publication time.
At other campuses, some Jewish faculty have welcomed the restrictions. Ron Avi Astor, an education researcher at UCLA, told LAist he believes the new rules “will enable free speech from both sides, without restricting one side’s ability to debate and talk about the topic.”
Cal State L.A. graduate student Inique Wilson felt the opposite, saying she feared the new rules would chill student free speech and activism.
“I feel like it affects students’ rights and your rights as a whole in society,” Wilson said. “I don’t think that’s fair or right and it can be really harmful, whether you’re pursuing education or not.” Wilson said that she believes conversations around the Israel-Hamas war should continue on campus and beyond. “We haven’t had a ceasefire,” she said. “There’s still a lot of death happening and students should be able to discuss these things.”
Last week, protests erupted at several universities in the state but adhered to regulations imposed by officials. However, there’s no guarantee students eager to take a stand against the war in Gaza won’t push back against those restrictions and reignite protests in the fall, despite disciplinary action.
Leda Ramos, a lecturer of Chicana/o and Latina/o studies who visited the Cal State L.A. encampment often, said she feared students may be academically penalized for speaking up. “The whole policy is centered on criminalizing activists,” she said.
She recalled speaking with activists young and old, artists, poets and people who would bring fresh pan dulce and champurrado to those in the encampment.
Ramos hopes that the pro-Palestinian protesters’ demands remain a priority at the university. “You can take down that encampment,” she said, but “they can’t take our spirit.”
