A nationwide movement touched down on the central lawn of CSU Channel Islands early on Monday afternoon as demonstrators pitched tents and raised Palestinian flags, demanding that the university divest from the state of Israel.
The Gaza solidarity encampment follows similar demonstrations sprouting on university campuses in protest of college's financial investments that movement leaders say are helping fund Israel's campaign in Gaza.
CSUCI's encampment on the Camarillo campus was calm early Tuesday evening.
Under pepper trees, low barriers constructed with cloth and wooden stakes loosely circled a cluster of about 20 tents and awnings. A group of students, faculty, alumni and visiting community members sat in a circle of chairs for a teach-in.
The CSUCI demonstration is primarily led by the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, encampment leaders said, though the county chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation and CSUCI's faculty union threw their support behind the encampment on social media.
Nancy Gill, a university spokesperson, said in an email Tuesday evening that university officials are focused on ensuring the campus remains safe and university operations remain uninterrupted.
University President Richard Yao told students and staff about the encampment in an email Monday, and wrote that the university is "committed to creating and fostering safe conditions to support campus engagement as protected by U.S. First Amendment rights through open dialogue that is respectful and constructive."
Angelmarie Taylor, a CSUCI senior and one of the encampment's leaders, said the protest is an expansion on the wave of pro-Palestinian encampments that touched off at Columbia University in April.
"Columbia set the tone and the bar for divestment campaigns," she said.
Taylor said she and other CSUCI student activists are only just getting to their own campus because their energy in the last two weeks was focused on establishing an encampment at CSU Los Angeles.
Around 10 CSUCI students, she said, had joined the CSULA demonstration, along with students from CSU Fullerton and CSU Long Beach.
Students sent CSUCI administrators a short list of demands, saying in a social media that they demand the university "divests from genocide, disclose their assets, end their silence and boycott all connection to apartheid states."
Though the group is connected to an effort to get the entire CSU system to divest, Taylor said the CSUCI encampment is primarily focused on investments by CSUCI itself.
University administrators and protest leaders have opened conversations, both groups said. Gill wrote that CSUCI leaders began working to respond to protestors' requests on Tuesday.
The group will pack up their tents, Taylor said, if the university shows proof it has no investments in Israel.
This story may be updated.
Isaiah Murtaugh covers education for the Ventura County Star in partnership with Report for America. Reach him at isaiah.murtaugh@vcstar.com or 805-437-0236 and follow him on Twitter @ isaiahmurtaugh and @ vcsschools . You can support this work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America .
Dua Anjum is an investigative and watchdog reporter for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at dua.anjum@vcstar.com . This story was made possible by a grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation's Fund to Support Local Journalism.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Cal State Channel Islands students launch Gaza solidarity encampment
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