DENVER (KDVR) — On Wednesday, pro-Palestinian protesters on the Auraria campus spoke publicly to discuss the group’s camp, their demands, and how to meet their demands.
Demonstrators are preparing to begin their second week of camping at Tivoli Quad to protest business ties with Israel that the Denver campus higher education institution allegedly has.
Auraria is home to the University of Colorado Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver, and Denver Community College. On Wednesday, four students from the Denver chapter of Students for a Democratic Society spoke on behalf of the camp and said if their demands were passed, they would “put it together in five minutes.”
What are the protesters demanding?
Them The request is for the University of Colorado To:
- issued a statement condemning Israel’s genocide,
- Completely withdraw from companies operating in Israel,
- fully disclose financial investments;
- I canceled my study abroad program in Israel.
- Refuse to “receive grants or funding from companies that contract with the U.S. military and end their relationship with that company.”
- On April 26th, all those arrested at the Auraria campus were released and charges were dropped.
- We ask that University of Denver President Michelle Marks meet with student organizers to discuss and plan the implementation of the above demands.
One of these requests was fulfilled. Students met with Marks and MSU President Janine Davidson on Tuesday, but said the overall experience was counterproductive.
“We’re not going to stop this encampment until our demands are met. The university will comply with our demands, and we could put this together in five minutes, but if the university… As long as we continue to invest in genocide, as long as we continue to go against the will of our students, we will solidify this camp.” Khalid Ham, student at the University of Colorado Denver and member of SDS.
Hamm said on Friday, April 26, student protesters complied with demands to remove all tents and structures or risk arrest for violating campus camping regulations. said. However, Hamm said that despite removing the tents and removing them from the immediate area, 44 protesters, including 22 students, were arrested and charged with trespassing. The protesters demanded that the charges be dropped after his arrest.
Geral Moller, another student protester who attends the University of Denver, said students have been demanding change from the university for months but haven’t seen any change. Protesters said other 911 calls were “ignored” while dozens of police arrested protesters.
FOX31 wants to see if there is any basis to that claim.
University responds to protesters’ demands
Auraria Campus said in a statement Tuesday that Marks said, “Many of the students’ list of demands falls under the jurisdiction of CU’s Board of Trustees and Chancellor; He reiterated that it was outside.”
The campus also said UW-Denver does not have a study abroad program to Israel, but students said they cannot fully dispute it due to a lack of financial transparency.
Students claimed they still had not received financial transparency from CU, and school administrators who met with protesters said they did not have the authority to divest the university from an Israeli company. Students said the next step is to put the protesters in contact with groups that could change the university’s investments, but they have not yet been contacted.
Mueller also said the CU Board of Trustees will hold a virtual meeting Wednesday afternoon, but the meeting will be held in executive session, preventing public input. The regency committee will have the power to issue a statement regarding the Israel-Hamas war, protesters said.
Demonstrators demand transparency on investments in Israel
Asked if SDS was aware of CU’s direct ties to Israel, Mueller claimed there were no financial documents available to protesters detailing the university’s investments. But Mueller said the organization is “aware that manufacturing of weapons and parts for weapons used to bomb Palestinians occurs on campus.”
The groups were also asked whether they thought having their demands met would have an impact on the war in Gaza.
“We understand that no single university withdrawing from Israel can single-handedly end the slaughter of Palestinians, but if two universities, three, five, 20, 50, 100… I think it’s going to be one blow after another,” Harriet Falconetti said. “We think that’s a very important aspect of ending that genocide.”
Ham agreed with that idea.
“It’s our debt that they owe to build relationships with weapons manufacturers. This (camp) is a request from the campus, and this is the change the campus needs to see,” Hamm said. .
