Students protesting the war in Gaza are still camped out on the Auraria campus Sunday — even after 40 were arrested on Friday and an unexpected weekend snowstorm.
On Sunday morning, over 100 people were gathered around dozens of tents set up on the Auraria Campus' Tivoli Quad. Since it formed on Thursday, the camp has expanded — campers have laid down tarps and torn-up cardboard to create makeshift paths over the mud brought by Saturday’s rain and snow, and a makeshift bathroom using privacy tents, buckets and cat litter has appeared on the perimeter.
Khalid Hamu, an organizer with the Students for a Democratic Society, said the camp has only grown stronger since Friday.
“We were able to get a lot of support from the campus and the surrounding community, and we're still going strong,” he told Denverite Sunday. “We have systems in place that are solidifying a little bit. We have a lot more of a solid plan now.”
Spirits were lifted Saturday, when longtime political activist, professor and author Angela Davis, who rose to prominence in the 1960’s for her involvement in civil rights and antiwar movements, visited the camp. Davis was in town for a private event at Colorado College in Colorado Springs.
“We were really happy for such a legendary civil rights activist to come and speak and talk about how there's parallels between what's happening today and what she did in the past,” Hamu said.
Students said they’re not going to budge until university leaders meet their demands
The student organizers sent a list of demands to the University of Colorado on Thursday which included: a statement from the CU system “condemning the genocidal actions of Israel,” a meeting with CU Denver Chancellor Michelle Marks, divestment from any corporations operating in Israel, transparency around investments, and an end to University of Colorado study abroad programs in Israel.
The organizers also want CU’s administration to sever ties with and refuse grants from companies that contract with the U.S. military.
According to federal data, the University of Colorado Denver has accepted nearly $3 million in contracts with Israel since 2016.
Student organizers said they haven’t heard from university officials as of Sunday morning. CU system officials have not responded to multiple requests for comment from CPR News and Denverite.
Harriet Falconetti, a CU student protester who was arrested on Friday, said she’s prepared to camp out for as long as it takes.
“The only way that this is going to end is when CU and the Auraria campus meet our demands,” she said.
In a statement, the Auraria campus said it supported the free speech of students, however campus policy prohibited camping on premises due to health, safety and security considerations.
"While those who gathered at the onset of Thursday’s protest did so peacefully, some participants established an encampment as the demonstration progressed, which violates those policies," another statement from campus officials said. "Campus administrators spoke with numerous protesters and advised them of our policy, including providing written copies."
Auraria students are joining a nationwide movement among college campuses
Similar scenes are playing out across the United States, where students at other colleges are camping out to protest the war in Gaza. The camp-style protests first started in New York City’s Columbia University and quickly spread to campuses like the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Southern California.
In many cases, universities have not bowed to student demands. However, Portland State University announced it would pause its connections to Boeing, which has a weapons manufacturing arm, until it could hold a campus-wide forum on the future of the partnership.
The Auraria campus — home to the University of Colorado Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver and the Community College of Denver — is so far the only Colorado campus to see students set up camps in protest of the war in Gaza. Hamu called on students at other campuses to start their own.
“I'm not exactly sure of the conditions of the other campuses in the state,” he said . “We've been able to see some wins and I just hope we can inspire other campuses to do the same because Columbia made the call nationwide and maybe we can make the call statewide.”
Denverite reporters Kevin Beaty and Rebecca Tauber contributed to this report.
