UNC allows protesters’ encampment to stay up so far, despite policy violations

Tents in the pro-Palestinian “Gaza solidarity encampment” on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus remained up into the evening Monday, marking 24 continuous hours that they have stood despite being in violation of university policy.

The encampment has stood on Polk Place, the main quad in the central part of the UNC campus, since Friday morning. It is organized by the UNC chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine and includes members of the SJP campus chapters at NC State University and Duke University, as well.

The encampment is similar to those on college campuses nationwide, including at Columbia University, which became a flashpoint of pro-Palestinian student activism in recent weeks. Hundreds of demonstrators have been arrested at various campuses in relation to protests against the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. The war began Oct. 7 when Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, launched a terrorist attack that killed more than 1,200 Israeli civilians, with 240 hostages being taken.

Since then, Israel has dropped thousands of bombs in Gaza. More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed since October, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Members of the encampment at UNC deconstructed their tents Friday after negotiating with university administrators, but then put them back up Sunday evening following a pro-Palestinian rally and march that drew hundreds to campus.

Throughout the afternoon Monday, organizers warned the group that “escalation” and arrests were likely and “imminent,” but no such measures had materialized as of 7:30 p.m.

Members of the encampment who were willing to risk arrest, indicated by wearing a red wristband, gathered near the tents around 2 p.m., while those not willing to do so remained at a distance. Those wearing orange wristbands were willing to serve as “jail support.”

UNC Associate Vice Chancellor for Communications Beth Keith, who walked around the encampment on at least two separate occasions Monday, would not comment on whether potential arrests were planned. UNC police vehicles were seen in a parking lot adjacent to the quad throughout the day.

Violations of university policy

The members of the encampment are calling on the university to disclose investments related to Israel that it holds in its endowment and, if they exist, divest from them. They also want the university to end study-abroad programs to Israel and “acknowledge the ongoing genocide in Palestine.”

The tents, which are considered “temporary structures,” are a violation of the university’s facilities policy, which prohibits such structures from being set up unless approved by the administration. In addition to the tents, several other items in the encampment are also in violation of the policy, including Palestinian flags that were attached to the main campus flagpole and homemade signs that were staked in the ground throughout the quad.

“Knowingly violating” university policies is considered a violation of the university honor code, which could result in disciplinary action.

The encampment was sparsely populated Monday morning but attracted more participants throughout the day, growing to include hundreds of people by mid-day. Counter-protesters, including a small group holding an Israeli flag, arrived by the afternoon but were sparse — about 20 total.

Adam Goldstein, a faculty member in the UNC School of Medicine, stood on the outskirts of the encampment Monday afternoon holding a sign depicting a news article from The Times of Israel about Arbel Yehud, who was taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7. A member of the encampment stood across from him for several minutes holding a sign denouncing Zionism.

Goldstein said he came to the quad to share a different “message” than the one being provided by the members of the encampment and spread “hope.”

“Jewish faculty, Jewish students, many of them are scared to be here. They’re scared they’re gonna be accosted,” Goldstein said.

Goldstein said it is fair to question the university’s investments in a variety of countries, but did not agree with SJP singling out Israel in its demands.

Asked if he believes the university was doing enough to protect Jewish students, Goldstein said it is important for administrators to make the rules for assembling and practicing free speech clear. Goldstein said the encampment had “escalated” tensions on campus.

“I think you have to have free speech, but you also have to have safety for all minorities,” Goldstein said.

Sofie, an organizer with SJP who did not give her last name, said Monday morning that the group plans to stay in the encampment until the university complies with their demands.

“We are out here and we are out here until there are meaningful negotiations moving forward on meaningful movements to address our demands,” Sofie said. “But we’re going to be out here until the university discloses, divests and actually ends complicity in the genocide against the Palestinian people carried out by the U.S. and Israel.”

University administrators throughout the day could be seen coming and going from South Building, which is at the northern end of the quad and houses the chancellor’s office. None appeared to engage with the encampment.

Around 6 p.m., a group of about 50 people marched from the Polk Place encampment to McCorkle Place, where former UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz was speaking to the senior class for a “last lecture” event sponsored by the university alumni association.

The group returned to the encampment, using the early evening hours to eat and chant phrases including “disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.”

Reporter Avi Bajpai contributed.