Pro-Palestine protesters at UC Berkeley take down encampment

Phil Mayer
·2 min read
2

(KRON) — The encampment put up by pro-Palestine protesters at UC Berkeley will come down, Chancellor Carol Christ said in a letter on Tuesday that was acquired by KRON4.

The encampment was sitting at the Savio Steps of Sproul Hall. UC Berkeley reached an agreement with the UCB Divest Coalition to take it down, a process that began on Tuesday.

USF student protesters defy deadline to vacate encampment

“I am greatly relieved that we were able to bring this protest to a peaceful end. We stand ready,
as always, to also meet with any students from any community who wish to present requests
and ideas for institutional action in support of their needs, interests and/or values,” Christ said.

Christ said in the letter that she had four goals related to the encampment:

  • Provide for the physical safety of the campus community.

  • Prevent disruption of campus operations so that students can complete their courses and exams.

  • Enable commencement ceremonies to proceed as planned for the benefit of our graduates, their families, and friends.

  • Avoid any escalation of the situation on our campus.

She described the protest as nonviolent, “with a few notable exceptions,” and said it did not disrupt teaching, learning or research at the school.

However, students from a “wide range of communities” have told Christ they do not feel safe on campus, she said.

“I remain deeply concerned about the death and destruction of critical infrastructure in Gaza,
and about the ongoing impact on our university and its community. For those reasons, I
personally support the efforts of our government to promote a ceasefire, gain the release of
hostages, and initiate a process for negotiations that could bring the current conflict to a
permanent end,” she said.

KRON4 has reached out to the UCB Divest Coalition and is awaiting a response.

The encampment at San Francisco State University will be cleared as well after that school reached an agreement with Students for Gaza, but at San Jose State, encampments remained up as of Tuesday night.

The school gave the students until 6 p.m. to clear them, but the students said they have no plans of doing so.

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