Students take down pro-Palestinian encampment at UVM

Updated at 4:23 p.m.

A tent encampment at the University of Vermont is coming down, organizers announced Wednesday, after pro-Palestinian student protesters spent 10 nights occupying a campus quad. 

Protest organizers said in an Instagram post Wednesday that students had made the “strategic decision” to pack up the camp after claiming a partial victory in forcing the university to agree to their demands. 

“While the encampment served as an immensely useful tactical escalation, the time has now come for us to pivot our energy,” Students for Justice in Palestine, the campus group that has spearheaded pro-Palestinian activism, said in its announcement. 

This dispersal of UVM’s camp comes several weeks after university and college campuses nationwide erupted in protest against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. 

“UVM strongly supports freedom of expression,” Adam White, a university spokesperson, said in an email Wednesday. “Though student demonstrators have not communicated their intentions to the administration, the university appreciates that students have made efforts to bring their demonstration closer to compliance with university policies.”

An unspecified number of students are now facing disciplinary proceedings for their occupation of the quad. It’s unclear how many students could face discipline, although protesters told VTDigger Monday they believe roughly a dozen students are involved. 

The Vermont Cynic, UVM’s student newspaper, reported that students began taking down tents at midnight. By 1 p.m. on Wednesday, most of the tents on the Andrew Harris Commons had been disbanded. About a dozen students were working to clear the remaining campsites. 

Students who organized a similar encampment at Middlebury College also voluntarily took down their tents on Monday, after negotiating an agreement with that school’s administration. 

Protesters’ decision to disband at both institutions stands in stark contrast with some other U.S. universities and colleges. At other campuses — including Dartmouth College, less than two hours away — police forcibly dismantled camps and conducted mass arrests of students. 

At UVM, students began pitching tents on the Andrew Harris Commons on April 28. The camp, which at one point grew to nearly 100 tents, according to organizers, began its protest by issuing a series of demands to UVM administrators. Students called on the school to unveil details about its investments, divest from Israeli companies and arms manufacturers, cut ties with Israeli academic institutions, offer protesters amnesty and cancel the university’s commencement speaker. 

Protesters characterized the speaker, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, as complicit in the U.S.’ decision to veto three resolutions calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. 

UVM announced Friday that Thomas-Greenfield would not speak at commencement after all. The university also released some information about the investment of its endowment last week, although a school spokesperson said that was a routine disclosure to trustees. 

In a statement released Monday, UVM issued its lengthiest rebuttal yet to protesters’ demands. 

UVM was not considering divestment “for any social or political purpose,” the statement said, and a boycott of Israeli academic institutions would be a “clear violation of the university’s commitment to academic freedom.”

University leadership also appeared to imply that the cancellation of Thomas-Greenfield’s speech was not its decision: “As we learned on May 3, this issue has been rendered moot,” the university said. 

Additionally, administrators rebuffed students’ demand for amnesty. The university took no apparent action to remove the camp, but maintained that its existence violated university policy. 

“We have offered guidance on requesting policy exceptions, reminded students that policy violations have consequences, and are now beginning the conduct process for students who have chosen to violate policy,” the statement said. “While we do not relish this, particularly at such an important time of the year, the process will be fair and reasonable.”

White, the UVM spokesperson, did not specify how many students were involved in proceedings, saying that federal privacy rules prevented him from commenting on specific cases. 

But protesters claimed a limited victory anyway. Students who spoke with VTDigger at UVM Monday declined to provide their names, but said they hoped to continue their activism and push the university to divest from companies involved in the conflict in Gaza.

“Though the fight for full disclosure, divestment, and severing of ties between UVM and the Israeli occupation is only beginning, we have demonstrated that power lies with the people,” Students for Justice in Palestine said on Instagram Wednesday. 

Corey McDonald contributed reporting.