Editor’s Note: This article has been updated on 5/1/24 with a response from the university.
At an encampment launched Monday morning, UCI community members demanded university divestment from companies financially supporting Israel and continued to negotiate with the university on April 30.
The encampment, located at the Physical Science Quad, has expanded to approximately 30 tents. No arrests have been made, but according to an Instagram post by UCI Divest, police officers towed a supply truck that was delivering aid to encampment protesters. The OC Register also reported that UCI campus police asked a non-university demonstrator to leave campus.
Sarah Khalil, a fourth-year psychological sciences major and member of Students for Justice in Palestine at UCI (SJP at UCI), told New University that negotiations between the encampment protesters and the university have begun. She said she could not disclose further information.
The protesters’ demands include divestment from companies supporting Israeli occupation in Palestine — such as BlackRock and Lockheed Martin — in addition to transparency of university assets and amnesty for student protesters. The University of California Office of the President (UCOP) released a statement on April 26, opposing boycotts and divestment because UC tuition and fees are not used for “investment purposes.”
“All demands are on the table now, and we won’t leave until our demands are met,” Khalil said.
UCI provided the following statement to New University:
“UC Irvine respects the rights of any students to engage in free speech and expression including lawful protest. The safety of all members of the campus community is always a top priority, and we continue to monitor and evaluate the situation to ensure that we are able to continue to provide a safe and secure learning environment.”
Khalil said that the UCI community members at the encampment have the passion to “stand for humanity.”
“Our community has shown up again to show support. Standing against a genocide is exactly what everyone here is doing,” Khalil said.
New University spoke with others at the scene of the encampment.
A fourth-year English major who wished to remain anonymous called Chancellor Howard Gillman’s Monday night message — which deemed the encampment “illegal” and offered to find the protesters “a space that is appropriate and non-disruptive” — ironic.
“The whole point of protesting is for it to be disruptive,” the student said. “It’s kind of disappointing to see that people are just walking by and going to class, but it’s also reasonable that not everybody has the privilege to be able to be here.”
An Orange County resident, who requested anonymity, called the protesting students “admirable” but said it should not have come to this.
“I think the adults should be the adults and should be trying to do everything they can to divest from Israel and not support the genocide that is ongoing,” they said. “It’s disappointing that the police have continuously tried to shut the encampment down instead of yielding to their very reasonable demands.”
Jackie Cordova, a Santa Ana resident who saw the protest on X, said she came to UCI to protect and stand with the students.
“I think the students have the most powerful voice of conscience,” Cordova said. “They know the difference between right and wrong. They know murder is wrong. They know genocide is wrong.”
Cordova added that she has sons in college and wants students to know that parents support them.
“We’re happy [students are] standing up and challenging the powers that be. So many generations have been doing this,” she said. “War is so wrong.”
Chrissy Park is a Campus News Staff Writer. She can be reached at chrip10@uci.edu.
Edited by Annabelle Aguirre and Mohammad Samhouri