A sign marks the entrance to Willamette University in Salem, Ore., Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019.
Rob Manning / OPB
The dramatic occupation of a library at Portland State University ended last week when police swept into the building and arrested demonstrators, but that doesn’t mean protests on university campuses in Oregon came to an end.
About 20 to 30 student protesters at Willamette University in Salem have occupied the school’s Mark O. Hatfield Library since Saturday, following a smaller occupation of a different building on campus Friday.
The Willamette chapter of the nationwide student organization, Students for a Democratic Society, has been the primary organizer of the demonstrations on campus.
Students protesting at Willamette have demanded the university divest from the U.S. military industry.
“We settled on this demand because Willamette University has already divested about 98% from the fossil fuel industry,” said Zander Huston, a junior at Willamette and one of the organizers. “We think that if they can do that for the fossil fuel industry they can do it for Gaza as well.”
Huston said the student protesters do not want to disrupt studying at the library during their occupation, a stark contrast to what unfolded at Portland State University. Students are in their final week of classes at Willamette.
There have been no threats of police action from Willamette University leadership so far, according to Huston. In an emailed statement, a spokesperson with Willamette said the university has always encouraged students to be global thinkers and it will continue to have an open dialogue with student organizers. Student protesters dispute that there has been any kind of open communication with the university. Organizers are set to meet with Willamette’s chief operating officer on Tuesday morning.
Law enforcement teams clear protesters from Portland State University’s Branford Price Millar Library, May 2, 2024. Demonstrators protesting the war in Gaza had occupied the library for days.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
An encampment at the University of Oregon in Eugene also has entered its second week. Students have pitched tents on a lawn facing the school’s main library, Knight Library, since April 29. About 140 tents are set up on the lawn, according to The Daily Emerald, UO’s student newspaper.
In a Monday Instagram post from UO’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, organizers said the encampment is continuing to grow and encouraged other students to join. Student protesters there are asking UO to cut financial ties with Israel, end any partnerships with universities in Israel, and protect students and faculty who speak out against the war in Gaza.
UO president John Karl Scholz rejected protester’s demands at a university senate meeting last week. But university leadership is still negotiating with students to keep the protest peaceful, according to an emailed statement from a UO spokesperson.
“We are actively working to prevent unnecessary escalation, while also monitoring the safety and security of all our students on campus,” read the statement.
Several Jewish organizations, including Ducks for Israel, the Jewish Federation of Lane County and Oregon Hillel, are condemning the actions of the UO student protesters. In a joint statement released Monday, the groups called on UO to disperse the encampment immediately.
Student protests at universities in Portland have largely wound down since last week. An encampment at Lewis & Clark College is gone, as most students have moved out due to the spring semester ending last week.
The occupation of Portland State University’s library came to a head last Thursday after police cleared out and arrested several protesters. PSU students are midway through the school’s spring quarter. The university continued its clean up of the Branford Price Millar Library on Monday, but has not yet given a date when it expects the building to reopen.
