After 12 day-encampment, UW-Madison protesters reached deal. Why? And what's next?

There’s nothing like the threat of a disrupted commencement ceremony to get a deal done.

With tens of thousands of visitors descending on Madison for graduation weekend and protester numbers uncertain for the summer, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the campus' Students for Justice in Palestine chapter cut a deal Friday.

Pro-Palestinian protesters packed up their tents, ending a tense 12 days during which they defied a state rule banning camping on campus property. They had refused to leave Library Mall until UW-Madison divested from companies connected to Israel, leading Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin to send in police in a move that harkened many back to the violent Vietnam War-era campus protests of the 1960s.

The UW-Madison encampment is part of a national movement one historian described as the largest campus protests of the 21st century. For many schools, the protests are still playing out.

Dahlia Saba, a first-year UW-Madison graduate student and spokesperson for the encampment, said protesters in Madison aren't done, either. The agreement requires UW-Madison to connect them with the UW Foundation but offers no guarantees that those in charge of the $4 billion university endowment will divest from Israel. The agreement is hardly a win, she said, and more of a "first step."

But by removing the tents, do protesters lose their leverage?

"Us taking this deal does not in any way end the movement that we have built or end us fighting for our broader demands of divestment and disclosure," she said. "We decided to take the deal because there were some concrete, material commitments that I think are beneficial to Palestinian students here and abroad."

More: Why UW campus protesters’ rallying cry to divest from Israel faces resistance

Negotiations between UW-Madison and protesters stalled. What cleared the logjam?

The resolution reached Friday came about 48 hours after negotiations had collapsed.

Protesters walked out of a Wednesday meeting, saying administrators "refused to engage after multiple attempts in moving forward." UW-Madison said protesters had a "fundamental misunderstanding" of the chancellor's authority over investments. The university issued an afternoon deadline to remove the tents, sparking fears police would be sent in again.

UW-Madison Professor Samer Alatout, who was among 34 people arrested during the May 1 melee, had previously removed himself from negotiations because he believes police targeted him as a Palestinian professor and faculty adviser for the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter.

"When talks collapsed, I went back into the fray," he said. "I didn’t want things to go haywire."

More: Student protesters gather at UW-Madison demanding an end to the Israel-Hamas war

The Thursday meeting with Mnookin was helpful, Alatout said, in establishing greater understanding between the two parties.

"I think the students understood the constraints on her power but also pushed for the administration to understand not only student demands, but also the exceptional nature of the situation (in Gaza)," he said.

Alatout also said it was "no secret" that commencement played a critical role in resolving the dispute.

The timing of the UW-Madison deal cannot be understated, Saba agreed. Protesters had leverage, with the threat of a disrupted graduation ceremony looming large.

"Based on the way the university was communicating with us, the concerns they expressed about, for example, trying to limit the disruptions we could pose, I think that shows where they are in this moment," she said. "They were willing to negotiate because of the power we have shown."

Protester focus shifts to UW Foundation

Under the agreement, UW-Madison must facilitate a meeting between protesters and the UW Foundation by July 1.

UW-Madison also agreed to increase support for scholars and students affected by the Israel-Hamas war. That includes inviting at least one scholar from a Palestinian university to campus for each of the next three school years; hiring an employee in the Division of Student Affairs to support students affected by war, violence and displacement; and conducting a review of the International Division's projects and programming.

In exchange, protesters agreed to take down the tents and respect the university's policy against encampment in the future. They also promised not to disturb graduation.

Saturday's ceremony at Camp Randall Stadium brought two minor disruptions. One group draped a Palestinian flag over their backs and turned away from Mnookin while she spoke. The move elicited boos from others in the crowd. A handful of other students walked out later during the ceremony.

Protesters acknowledged the agreement leaves their primary goal of divestment unfulfilled, at least for now.

The UW Foundation offered little indication of how seriously it would consider students' demands beyond saying it "looks forward to conversations in the weeks ahead." Before UW-Madison struck the deal, the foundation said it didn't take directives from outsiders.

“I think there will be a huge outcry if the foundation does not follow through,” Alatout said. “Not only to listen, but also to work out certain details about what kind of principal investments are they going to follow?”

How do UW-Madison protests compare to campus activism of 1960s and 1970s?

Protests are a hallmark of UW-Madison history.

Former Madison Mayor Paul Soglin rose to prominence during the campus' anti-Vietnam protests. One of the biggest differences he saw between then and now was how social media helped protesters organize and amplify their message. He also said university administration had improved its use of police in protest response.

Politically, Soglin sees similarities with 1968, when Democrats were unhappy with President Lyndon B. Johnson's response to Vietnam. Political moderates were swayed by then-Republican candidate Richard Nixon's law and order message. Soglin, a Democrat, fears Donald Trump "can only gain" from the current climate.

Robert Cohen, a New York University professor who studies the history of student activism, said today's demonstrations are much smaller than in the 1960s and 1970s. That's in part because pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian camps tend to only talk about their own side's suffering, he said, which has prevented the movement from gaining the broader support that defined the antiwar efforts of the Vietnam era.

Students 60 years ago had more self-interest in protesting, with friends dying overseas and a draft in effect. Protesters today are taking a moral stance, making the situation more similar to the 1980s protests against South African apartheid. That effort led more than 150 universities, including UW-Madison, to divest from South Africa in some way.

Today's protests are "a pretty moderate movement in terms of tactics," Cohen said. The heavy-handed responses from Congress, donors and university administrators are concerning but not all that surprising.

"The student movement is never popular with the public," Cohen said. "Never. It doesn't matter how nonviolent they were, and how admirable, even in retrospect, their goals were. The public is just culturally conservative: Students (should) study, obey your elders, stay in your lane."

More: Professors confront UW-Madison chancellor over police response to encampment

UW-Madison protest puts attention on war

Student protests often reflect a "dysfunctional system" where they feel voiceless and unable to post critical questions of the administration, Cohen said. One solution he offered was for university foundations to increase student representation on their boards.

UW-Madison protesters, like a handful of others who have cut deals across the country, secured a step closer to divestment, but not divestment itself.

"That doesn't really mean it has failed," Cohen said. "And I think in a way, it's kind of beside the point."

Look how much more critical President Joe Biden has become of Israel since the protests began, Cohen said. The movement's most important effect may be bringing more visibility to the Israel-Hamas war.

UW-Madison student government chairperson Dominic Zappia saw a slight uptick in student awareness. As graduates posed for photos with Abe Lincoln on Bascom Hall, for example, protesters staged a "die-in" on the hill, calling attention to the children killed in the war.

"We can't ignore it, like, it is on Library Mall," Zappia said of the encampment. "When you're walking into the Union to meet a friend or you're going to and from class, it was there."

More: At Shabbat dinner near UWM encampment, Jewish students process complex feelings on protests, war

Protesters' fall plans uncertain

How will today's protests be defined decades from now? It's too soon to tell.

Cohen speculated one possibility could be demonstrators descending on the political conventions in Chicago and Milwaukee this summer. Because the movement is based around a single issue, he said protests likely would not resume next school year if there's a ceasefire or end to the war.

Saba, too, said the future is uncertain.

"I think that we are in a transitional period here," she said when asked about fall plans. "Even when the tents are down, that community, that motivation, and that drive to fight for justice remains and will carry us forward into the future."

Contact Kelly Meyerhofer at kmeyerhofer@gannett.com or 414-223-5168. Follow her on X (Twitter) at @KellyMeyerhofer.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Inside University of Wisconsin's deal with encampment protesters