May 9, 2024 | NEWS | By Leigh Walden, Seth Jahraus, and Marynn Krull
Protesters at American universities across the country have been faced with more than 2,000 arrests in the past few weeks. Student and faculty protestors have held rallies, encampments and occupations in an attempt to convince their respective institutions to divest from Israeli-affiliated or Israel-supporting companies and denounce the war in Gaza.
Several of the protest groups have encountered violent actions from both police and counter-protesters. Emory University students were exposed to tear gas and rubber bullets in a police raid on April 25. At the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), a clash between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian groups broke out at an encampment in the middle of the night on the UCLA campus on May 1.
At Colorado College, however, the protests have been almost exclusively peaceful. The Colorado College Liberation Zone (CCLZ) was set up on the quad in front of the Charles L. Tutt library at noon on Thursday, May 2. The initial size of the encampment started with about 10 tents, including a kitchen and medical tent. Since being established, the encampment has fluctuated in the range of about 30 tents.
The CCLZ has published a schedule of events for most every day they’ve been set up on Tava quad. Earmarked by community dinners, yoga, movie nights and origami making, organizers at the CCLZ have had a remarkably different experience from some encampments across the United States.
“We want to assure you that the nature of the current demonstrations at CC is very different from what you are seeing on the news at other institutions,” said President L. Song Richardson in an email sent out to student parents and families. Colorado College administration has repeatedly touted an approach of de-escalation and dialogue, with delayed enforcement, and the use of force as “a last resort,” according to the email.
So far there has been no disciplinary action taken against organizers at the CCLZ. Campus safety, who has so far refused to give comment to The Catalyst, has not made any attempt to deconstruct the encampment and on at least two occasions have responded to incidents where organizers at the encampment felt unsafe.
Doxxing on YikYak
Some level of tension can be felt at Colorado College, even if it has not manifested in physical, in-person responses to the CCLZ. On the popular anonymous social media platform Yik Yak there have been instances of hate speech and insensitive rhetoric. Yik Yak, which only allows users to see messages or “yaks” posted within a five-mile radius of their current location, was removed from app stores in 2017 following bans from several college campuses which contributed to a precipitous drop in popularity.
At Colorado College yaks vary from discussions of social events, to on campus dining reviews, to political debates, all masked under a veil of anonymity. On Sunday, May 7, a yak was posted that, according to a post from the Instagram page of the Colorado College Faculty for Palestine, “explicitly targeted a CC student: falsely accusing them of violent and racist behavior, exposing their physical location, and putting them at risk.”
In response, on Tuesday, May 7, President Richardson emailed the CC community writing, “anonymous posts and the platforms that support them have become breeding grounds for hate and discrimination. Cowardly individuals hide behind them to terrorize our community members. The anonymity makes it difficult to investigate, identify the individuals responsible, or hold them accountable.”
She continued, “We will not allow the use of campus resources to support these anonymous platforms and the targeted bullying, harassment, and hate they facilitate. For these reasons, we have begun the process of removing access to the social media platforms that support anonymous posting from our campus network.” She indicated that this process would take several days to complete.
President Richardson has also been in direct correspondence with the organizers of the encampment. In an email sent on May 6, President Richardson wrote “[Members of CC’s Administration] have been in contact with the board and will reach out again to schedule a meeting.”
The Encampment’s Demands
A meeting with President Richardson was one of the demands made by the organizers of the CCLZ. In their most recent list of demands the organizers call for “changes to its investment policy, committing to divest from companies incorporated or headquartered in Israel.”
The protesters have also begun to demand the removal of disciplinary sanctions against “all student activists involved in Pro-Palestinian activism,” seemingly in reference to the conduct cases given by the administration to members of the March 3 library sit-in.
The recent list of demands reiterates past calls to action such as a request for CC to end the study abroad programs affiliated with Israel and to publicly condemn the “genocide in Gaza.”
Faculty Demands and Collaboration
Unlike the student organizers on campus, concerned staff and faculty, to the best of The Catalyst’s knowledge, have yet to see headway on their demands made to CC administration. A letter that, calls for CC to vacate sanctions against student protestors; apologize to non-Zionist and anti-Zionist Jewish community members; set up support spaces for community members affected by the war; pledge in the future to consult various community members and experts on response to sensitive matters; and support a climate of debate by sponsoring informative events.
Though faculty members have their own set of demands, the collaboration between faculty, staff and students has been profound throughout the course of organizing. Members of the CCLZ have said faculty members have been instrumental in providing necessary supplies to the camp, including food and camping resources. On the second day of the encampment, the CCLZ even posted to their Instagram story requesting that people stop bringing them food donations.
Organizers Facing Environmental Obstacles
Still, organizers have faced trials throughout their time at their encampment. Severe winds, freezing temperatures, and rain have put the wills and preparedness of organizers to the test.
On Monday, May 6, members of the CCLZ were woken up by wind gusts up to 60 mph starting at about 1 a.m. and continuing into the morning of May 7. Facing these winds, marshalls, who the CCLZ identify as individuals responsible for the safety and wellbeing of those at the CCLZ, made the decision to disassemble some tents and send some organizers home.
Later in the day on May 6, the Colorado College Housing Experience office on campus emailed on campus residents writing, “We are reaching out to encourage all residents to be mindful during the windy weather that is forecasted for the next few days. Please keep your windows closed, ensure all exterior doors close fully behind you, and be aware of your surroundings when you travel outdoors.” While some organizers opted to return to the CCLZ under more favorable weather conditions, the encampment still had at least ten tents set up on Tava quad on Monday.
As of Wednesday, May 8, a large quantity of the tents have been re-established at the encampment, with the number of tents sitting around 30.
Recent Demonstration
The camp’s most recent demonstration took place immediately following the college’s end-of-year Honors Convocation. Protesters dressed in all black lined all three sidewalk paths leading out of the event space. Several members extended their red painted palms toward the exiting convocation attendees and began to shout a chant of “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
The protesters then moved their demonstration to the Worner Quad in front of the Cutler Admissions building. With at least 150 protesters in attendance, the group continued their chants right next to a post-Honors Convocation ice cream social.
Members of the CCLZ were happy with the demonstration’s turnout. Many individuals from several different organizations acted as participants in the protest, aiding in the visibility of the event, according to a CCLZ member. “We want people to really consider what is worth celebrating right now,” they said.
After the Library sit-in on March 3, the Colorado College administration sent out an email to the student body condemning “Antisemitism, Anti-Arab and Anti-Muslim hate, discriminatory language, or any form of hate or bigotry on our campus.” The faculty letter criticized the administration’s admonishment of the protesters’ use of the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free,” although the administration email did not explicitly identify any phrases, chants, or speech. Still, the phrase is historically and politically complicated.
“Indeed, there is a vibrant scholarly debate about the provenance and meanings of
this chant,” the faculty letter acknowledged, “While it has been used to express solidarity with the Palestinian peoples’ struggle against Israeli occupation and violence, it features prominently in the founding document of the Likud Party.”
Future Action
There is a lot of uncertainty now regarding the future of the encampment in light of President Richardson’s response to the CCLZ. No formal plans have been made, and there is no guarantee that any of the demands made by the encampment will be met following a meeting with the board of trustees.
One representative of the faculty signatories told The Catalyst that the administration has reached our to them, but that they have yet to finalize a time to meet. There will be an open forum on Friday, May 10 at 4 p.m. in Palmer Hall. On this event, Peter Wright, co-director Arabic, Islamic, and Middle Eastern Studies, told The Catalyst that “President Richardson and Interim President Whitaker have agreed to join us for what we trust will be a productive conversation about the college’s response to the current situation in Palestine, student protests on campus, and anti-Muslim/Arab/Palestinian hate speech.” Moreover, the faculty plan to initiate a conversation about the College’s investment portfolio.
Wright said, “We are excited to have the opportunity of this public discussion! It has been a long time coming.”
“We don’t have a definitive timeline on anything,” said one member of the CCLZ.
With the school year coming to a close, it is understood that many encampment members will be leaving for the summer. As a strategy, the CCLZ members are attempting to push for as many demands as possible between now and the end of classes on May 15.