University of Rochester clears campus protest encampment with 3 days until commencement

Three days before commencement, all appeared calm on the University of Rochester's main campus — after the Israel-Hamas war sparked protest here and at other U.S. colleges.

Facilities workers staked down tents and rolled tables into place. Parents in UR apparel wandered around consulting maps. Soon-to-be-graduates clustered on the main Eastman quadrangle taking selfies in their gowns and mortarboards.

Signs of discord, meanwhile, were subtle but undeniable like faint dark clouds in the western sky: Department of Public Safety vehicles idling across campus, two security officers occupying each of them, and about 20 patches of desiccated yellow grass speckled the main quad where, until Tuesday morning, pro-Palestinian protesters' tents had stood.

Like universities across the United States, UR has been the scene of spirited debate about the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, a conflict in which more than 30,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed.

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Pro-Palestinian protesters have been demonstrating on campus for the last month, demanding that UR call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza; divest from Israeli institutions; create partnerships with Palestinian academics; and drop sanctions against students who have been suspended or arrested. The protests culminated with a pair of brief student sit-ins at Wallis Hall, UR's main adminstrative building.

Initial negotiations seemingly showed promise but soon were swamped by allegations of dishonesty and obstinance on both sides.

President Sarah Mangelsdorf's administration in the last week has taken an increasingly firm stance. It announced that protest leaders will be suspended from campus, then on Tuesday cleared the remaining encampment on the university's main quad.

"University officials have tried extremely hard to maintain open lines of communication with student protest leaders and have provided leeway to find middle ground on freedom of expression," UR said in a statement. "However, given the aggregation of numerous policy violations of time, place and manner for protests, the decision was made to end the encampment and begin the process of restoring campus life."

The UR chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, the main pro-Palestinian organization on campus, said last week that the university was "blatantly misrepresenting communication" between the two sides, in particular regarding students' pledge to clear the encampment and the administration's pledge to drop punishment against protestors.

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The university's main commencement ceremony is at 9 a.m. Friday at Fauver Stadium on the River campus. The main speaker will be Laura Carstensen, a research psychologist at Stanford University and a UR alumna. Ceremonies for specific colleges within the university will take place throughout the weekend.

Columbia University and the University of Southern California canceled their main commencement ceremonies due to threats of disruptive protests. Other schools' ceremonies have been marked by student walk-outs or other protests.

In an update on its website, the administration said: "We are continuing to closely monitor all campus spaces and activities in the days leading up to Commencement and preparing for all emergency scenarios, including future disruptions."

Yaash Rapod is among the students graduating this weekend. He will receive a master's degree from the Simon Business School.

Rapod has not been following the news of the on-campus demonstrations closely, he said, and isn't worried about the potential for a disruption to the graduation ceremony.

"If it happens right where ceremony is happening, then yes, it might be a nuisance," he said. "But if not — (the protesters) have been peaceful; they're not harming anybody."

— Justin Murphy is a veteran reporter at the Democrat and Chronicle and author of "Your Children Are Very Greatly in Danger: School Segregation in Rochester, New York." Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/CitizenMurphy or contact him at jmurphy7@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: University of Rochester clears protest encampment before graduation