Pro-Palestine protesters reject DU’s deadline to clear encampment

DENVER (KDVR) — Pro-Palestine protesters at the University of Denver were given an ultimatum on Tuesday: Voluntarily pack up their encampment by 9 p.m. or the university will take action. After the deadline hit, the encampment remained filled with tents and people.

A letter to the university community from Chancellor Jeremy Haefner said officials had a “productive” two-hour meeting with protesters on Tuesday and told them DU would require the camp to close. The chancellor said DU is offering “support” to the protesters, but if people refuse to leave, the university “will determine appropriate action to disband the camp.”

FOX31’s Shaul Turner was at the site, where the crowd grew as the night went on, and spoke with a protester about their decision to stay.

“At this point, we are standing strong. I can’t say exactly what every organizer is thinking but I know that we have demands that we are asking for the university to meet, and they are not meeting them,” one protester told FOX31.

The group sang a justice movement song called “ I Am Not Afraid ” and chanted things like “long live Palestine.”

Just before 10 p.m., Haefner sent another email to the DU community and said the university had “no plans to have police or campus safety dismantle the encampment” on Tuesday night.

“We shared our desire to resolve this through a voluntary and cooperative approach. It was our expectation that the encampment would be dismantled by 9 p.m. and our interactions with the encampment participants indicated that was realistic to expect,” Haefner wrote. “We are disappointed that this is not what has happened and that participants chose this path forward, which is serving only to further threaten campus safety and operations.”

The chancellor said the next steps will be decided “in the days ahead” and said university officials have a “continued expectation that all encampment participants be affiliated with DU as a current student, faculty, or staff member.”

DU officials: ‘Concerned’ about campus safety

Haefner said the move to clear the encampment came as university leaders have “become increasingly concerned about the safety of our campus community,” including for those in the protest encampment.

“As shared previously, in addition to ongoing policy violations regarding DU ID checks for safety , there has been a sharp increase in reports of discriminatory and harassing behavior from individuals both inside and outside the encampment,” Haefner wrote. “In addition, the false emergency call which diverted away important safety resources while vandalism occurred forced an urgent re-evaluation of the encampment as a form of safe free expression.”

On Monday, university officials said a weekend act of vandalism — which included red paint thrown on a university building and words spray-painted on the brick walkway outside it — happened when someone made a fake emergency call as a “distraction,” claiming someone had been shot.

Since May 9, DU has been the site of a protest encampment in defense of the Palestinian people in Gaza , where Israel has been fighting Hamas since its Oct. 7 attack against Israel. The demonstration has also brought forth counterprotests by DU’s Jewish student community .

DU for Palestine students have said they want the university to end its relations with Israel, including divesting from the country and terminating any academic programs.

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