On Monday, students at the University of Oregon began setting up tents on the Eugene campus to protest the conflict in Gaza. They joined students at scores of other universities across the nation, including at Portland State University, where students set up camps, barricades and broke into Branford Price Millar Library. Student organizers of the protest on the UO campus are calling on the administration to divest from companies that have financial ties to the Israeli military. In a statement, the University of Oregon said it is “actively monitoring this situation to ensure the safety and wellbeing of students, faculty, and staff on campus.” KLCC reporter Nathan Wilk joins us to talk about the situation unfolding at the university.
The following transcript was created by a computer and edited by a volunteer:
Dave Miller: This is Think Out Loud on OPB. I’m Dave Miller. We start today with the protests against the war in Gaza that have popped up at college campuses all across the country. Last night at Portland State University, a group of demonstrators broke into and occupied a library. The University announced this morning that the campus would be closed today, in response. There have been protests at other Oregon schools as well including Lewis and Clark, Reed, and the University of Oregon. We’re going to focus on the University of Oregon right now. Student protesters put up an encampment there early yesterday morning. KLCC reporter Nathan Wilk has been following developments in Eugene and he joins us now. Welcome to the show.
Nathan Wilk: Thanks so much for having me.
Miller: Can you give us a sense for how big this encampment is right now?
Wilk: Sure. Yesterday morning when this was set up, it was looking like about 20 camps on the University of Oregon campus. My understanding, both from student organizers and from estimates from The Daily Emerald, the University of Oregon student publication, is that we’re now looking at about 50 [tents] on campus.
Miller: 50 tents. How prominent a location is this particular site?
Wilk: It is a very prominent location. It is right by the entrance to the University of Oregon on 13th Avenue. It’s by Lillis [Business Complex], which is one of the largest schools on campus, as well as on the lawn of the Knight Library. Now, what I will say is when student organizers chose this location, they told me they were trying to pick a place that did not directly interfere with other students or classes on campus.
Miller: So it doesn’t interfere with students going to class. But visually, it’s sort of hard to miss if you’re just going about your daily life on the campus?
Wilk: Absolutely. If you’re a student on campus or a community member walking through, it is very visible.
Miller: What has the scene been like over the last, I don’t know, 20 to 28 hours?
Wilk: So far it has been relatively mellow there. It’s been a rainy few days. What we’ve seen, when I was there yesterday morning, is University of Oregon officials coming by and talking quite calmly to the protesters there. According to organizers there has not, so far, been a police presence that has approached the encampment itself. And they also say there has been no organized counter-protests so far.
Miller: Universities have been cracking down on similar encampments across the country. How has the University of Oregon been approaching this, so far?
Wilk: As I said, there have been several administration officials who have come by and spoken with protesters, giving them guidelines. My understanding, speaking with some of the organizers of the encampment, is that University of Oregon officials have not wanted outside community members to camp. And that is something that organizers say they are not allowing.
The University of Oregon Division of Student Life put out a statement to community members of the University of Oregon. And basically, one of the things that they highlighted is that they have been looking at some of the other conflicts across the country and looking at universities who have brought in a police presence and cracked down early and seen that that had, in their view, led to more harm to bystanders and to protesters, more conflict and strife.
So they have said that they are monitoring the situation closely. They will be watching for violations of student conduct but that they are holding back and reserving space for free speech and peaceful dissent right now.
Miller: I’m curious about that conduct. In a statement yesterday, the University wrote: “We would like to remind the student community of expectations of appropriate behavior as outlined in the Student Conduct Code.” Have they established particular red lines, conduct that could lead to either individual suspensions or the collective removal of this camp?
Wilk: Absolutely. I mean, one of the things that they pointed out was if they felt as if there was harassment, if people were being intimidated from going to classes. As well, I know that outside community members have been removed. Also the student groups have put up pretty strict restrictions on alcohol use and partying on this public ground. This is, of course, the University of Oregon’s campus. But past that, clear rules and suspensions have not been laid out so far, I’d say.
Miller: What exactly are students asking for in terms of divestment?
Wilk: One of their main targets here is Jasper Ridge Partners that helps with the University of Oregon Foundation’s investments. And many of their funds go into BlackRock and Vanguard. BlackRock and Vanguard then also have stakes in companies that supply the Israeli military. So the idea here is to remove financial ties. The University of Oregon’s Foundation has two companies that indirectly support the Israeli military.
Miller: What have University officials said about their investments?
Wilk: When I spoke to the University of Oregon Foundation, something that they said was that although Jasper Ridge has these large stakes in these investment funds, BlackRock and Vanguard, they deny that the University of Oregon’s funds, in particular, the University of Oregon Foundation’s funds are going directly there.
Miller: Do the students have other demands?
Wilk: They want more protections, formal protections, for students and faculty who speak out about Gaza. They also want University of Oregon to adopt, more generally, a boycott, divest, and sanction agreement to remove brands from the University of Oregon campus who either directly or indirectly, in their view, support the Israeli military and the Israeli government. In addition, they want the University of Oregon to end its academic partnerships with Israeli universities.
Miller: Nationwide, one of the issues that universities have really been grappling with in these protests is how to allow free speech without allowing hate speech, in particular anti-Semitism. How has that played out at the University of Oregon?
Wilk: I want to refer to a letter from President Scholz last December. And what he said is that in some ways, the ability of the University of Oregon to limit speech, even hateful speech (here he was talking about both Islamophobia, racism, and anti-Semitism), that the University of Oregon has some limits on that. But if there were harassment or threats of harm to individuals, the University of Oregon would take action. And as well, following this encampment being set up, the University of Oregon has referred students who may feel unsafe to several counseling and support services that are available on campus.
Miller: What have you heard from Jewish students or Jewish student organizations on campus about what’s happening right now?
Wilk: As I said, according to organizers, counter-protest groups have not officially come together at the encampment site. Ducks for Israel, which is a student group that has previously been contentious with some of those groups that are involved in the encampment, has said that it is available for students who feel unsafe on campus because of the encampment being set up. In addition, University of Oregon students have raised, in the past, concerns about some of the language used. Things like “from the river to the sea” was brought up at a Board of Trustees meeting back in March.
Now, that is also language that is on signage at the encampment, as of yesterday morning. And at that Board of Trustees meeting, some University of Oregon students did say that they felt less safe due to the presence of these groups and the rhetoric that is currently on campus.
I should note, as well, that Jewish Voice for Peace, the University of Oregon chapter, is involved in the organization of this encampment.
Miller: We have about a minute left. Commencement is in about a month and a half. Does it seem that students at the University of Oregon are in this for the long haul?
Wilk: Speaking with organizers, I know that they have denoted different levels of comfort, in terms of being arrested. Depending on if things come to that, some have already set up legal networks, legal support, in the case that that happens. And I know that University of Oregon students who are at this encampment have told me that they are receiving many resources, tools, food, supplies from community members, as they continue this effort. However, we are just two days into this. So, a month and a half is quite a long time, especially here in Oregon weather.
Miller: Nathan, thanks very much.
Wilk: Thank you so much for having me.
Miller: Nathan Wilk is a reporter for KLCC. He joined us to talk about the encampment that sprang up on the University of Oregon campus early yesterday morning to go against the Israeli war in Gaza.
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