Students at Wesleyan University are the latest Connecticut college students to protest over the Israel-Hamas war.
Students have formed a pro-Palestinian encampment on the Middletown campus.
A group called the Wesleyan Students for Justice in Palestine wants the university to divest from companies they say are playing a role in the war. They also call on the university to terminate programs and affiliations with Israeli academic institutions and for the career center to restrict companies that play a role in the war from recruiting on campus.
“Disclose, divest; we will not stop, we will not rest!” students chanted Monday.
Batya Kline is one of the protest organizers. At the top of their list of demands is financial transparency.
“We are totally withheld from seeing what our money is funding," Kline said. "And because weapons companies are so profitable, there is no reason to believe that they are not funding the worst of the worst.”
Organizers said in a post on Instagram: "The Wesleyan administration continues to use the money of students and our families to invest and profit from the Israeli occupation."
About 60 students camped out Sunday night. They plan to hold daily rallies at noon. A few professors were holding their classes Monday at the encampment in support of the protest.
Monday's developments followed an on-campus rally Sunday that attracted a few hundred people.
In a statement, the university notes that the students assembled peacefully near the center of campus.
"The university is closely monitoring the situation to ensure the safety of all members of the university community," the statement said. "The university will not tolerate violence or intimidation."
In a letter to the campus community, Wesleyan president Michael S. Roth said the students who have camped out know they are in violation of university rules and "seem willing to accept the consequences." Roth said that as long as the protest is not violent and does not disrupt campus operations, the university will not attempt to clear the encampment.
"There will be many on campus who cheer on the protesters, and many who are offended or even frightened by their rallies and messages," Roth said in his note. "But as long as we all reject violence, we have opportunities to listen and to learn from one another. This may not happen during the chanting and drumming, but it can happen during some of the planned discussion sessions and deep conversations that will take place throughout the week."
Amira Pierotti says some student protesters plan to camp out through graduation and into the summer if their demands are not met.
“While there is the threat of administration crackdown, it is nothing in comparison to the threat of violence that Palestinians are facing,” Pierotti said.
Similar protests have been held at college campuses across the country. In Connecticut, protests have taken place at UConn and Yale University. Elsewhere, protests have happened on campuses from Massachusetts to Texas to California.
Colleges around the country are imploring pro-Palestinian student protesters to clear out tent encampments with rising levels of urgency as classes wrap up for the semester and campuses prepare for graduation ceremonies. At least one school, the University of Southern California, canceled its main graduation ceremony this spring.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
