The Daily Emerald is providing live coverage of the University of Oregon’s pro-Palestine encampment, which began on April 29 at 7 a.m. All of our coverage on the encampment can be found here.
Below is the Emerald’s coverage of May 7, the ninth day of the encampment.

It was an eventful ninth day of the University of Oregon’s pro-Palestine encampment. A morning rally and evening vigil, each with hundreds of participants, coincided with President John Karl Scholz’s statement that the university would “move forward with the student conduct process” after amnesty for student demonstrators expired at 12 p.m.

Roughly 300 demonstrators gathered between the encampment and the Lillis Business Complex for a 10:30 a.m. rally, calling for the university to “condemn genocide” and meet the protesters’ demands on divestment. 

Salem Younes, a student organizer and co-president of UO Students for Justice in Palestine, condemned the university’s alleged calls to end the encampment, saying the encampment has not been disruptive or “getting in their [the university’s] way.”

Approximately 50 faculty and staff stood in front of the encampment during the rally in support of student demonstrators. Many later joined a 6:15 p.m. “scholasticide vigil,” which commemorated and condemned the destruction of universities and the killing of educators and students in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war.

As of this writing, at least 129 UO staff and faculty have signed on to a statement by UO Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine, supporting the students and urging the university to avoid “escalation.”

It remains unclear whether meetings between student negotiators and the university are ongoing, but both sides expressed dissatisfaction with the negotiations thus far. University officials repeatedly asked student demonstrators to cease overnight camping, which they refused; the university, meanwhile, approached students with an unspecified offer, which was rejected.

Multiple student negotiators indicated that the university had refused their demands for divestment, as well as ending academic exchanges with Israeli universities and issuing a statement “calling for a ceasefire and condemnation of genocide” in Gaza. Scholz’s statement confirmed much of this, as did a timeline of negotiations released by the university.

Scholz’s afternoon statement acknowledged that the encampment had been largely peaceful thus far, but raised several concerns — including that the encampment was “a drain on scarce resources,” and that the university was concerned about “antisemitic provocation.” A university spokesperson declined to elaborate on either provision of the statement. Students in the encampment disputed both claims.

Preparations for the ASUO Street Faire, scheduled for May 8 to 10, began shortly after 12 p.m. and continued throughout the night on East 13th Avenue According to ASUO, organizers of the event have altered the layout of the faire to ensure vendors who are typically sent up on or near the Memorial Quad are relocated to alternate locations. This will allow for both the encampment and the faire to occur simultaneously.

There are currently two security guards in close proximity to the encampment. However, according to ASUO Secretary of Engagement Cash Kowalski, the security guards are present to prevent overnight theft from street faire vendors and will have no involvement with the encampment.  

It remains unclear whether the university will attempt to clear the encampment. UOPD Police Chief Jason Wade has not responded for comment regarding a potential breakup of the encampment. Eugene Police Department spokesperson Melinda McLaughlin declined to comment on any potential EPD involvement in a clearing of the camp, saying it would be “pure speculation.”

Thus far, events at the encampment have remained largely peaceful, and police have not been called to the scene in the first nine days. The Daily Emerald will continue to provide live updates tomorrow and throughout the week. 
 
Read below for live updates as they happened.

Updated 11:01 p.m. 

As encampment activities wind down for the evening, preparations for the ASUO Street Faire scheduled for tomorrow continue throughout the night on East 13th Avenue According to ASUO, organizers of the event have altered the layout of the faire to ensure vendors who are typically sent up on or near the Memorial Quad are relocated to alternate locations. This will allow for both events to occur simultaneously.

There are currently two security guards in close proximity to the encampment. However, according to ASUO Secretary of Engagement Cash Kowalski, the security guards are present to prevent overnight theft from street faire vendors and will have no involvement with the encampment.  

This evening, encampment participants chalked across East 13th Avenue, in front of the Lillis Business Complex. The message reads “Divest from genocide, all eyes on Rafah.” 

This message comes as the Associated Press reports that Israeli Defense Forces have taken control of the Rafah border crossing on Gaza’s southern border. According to AP, it may be a precursor to an invasion of Rafah which currently holds over 1 million people and was designated as a “humanitarian zone” early in the war..  
Despite the 12 p.m. deadline from UO administrators to clear the encampment or face possible academic conduct charges, participation appears to have remained steady at around 140 tents. 

It remains unclear whether the university will attempt to clear the encampment. 
UOPD Police Chief Jason Wade has not responded for comment regarding a potential breakup of the encampment. 

Eugene Police Department spokesperson Melinda McLaughlin declined to comment on any potential EPD involvement in a clearing of the camp, saying it would be “pure speculation.” 

The status of any further negotiation sessions between UO Coalition for Palestine representatives and university administrators is unclear. 

The university offered coalition representatives an unspecified offer in response to their demands, including academic amnesty if they were to clear the camp immediately. However, a spokesperson for the camp, going by Bo, said that the offer did not meet the coalition’s “needs.”

“We needed more from the university, and we did not get it,” Bo said  in response to declining the university’s offer. 

Bo said that following today’s 10:30 a.m. rally, the encampment has received an outpouring of support from community members and fellow students.

“It’s been crazy how much I feel like so many people who have not been a part of camp stayed after the rally,” said Bo. “We have that energy up.” 

As the evening concluded, the camp was quiet but had numerous members of the students’ security team in neon vests circling the encampment to ensure participants’ safety. 

The ASUO Street Faire is scheduled to begin tomorrow at 10 a.m. and run through Friday, May 8, at 6:00 p.m.  

There is a “mass action teach-in” scheduled to occur at the encampment at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow. The “teach-in” will center around a famous speech given in 1970 during anti-war Vietnam protests by politician Peter Camejo, titled, “Liberalism, Ultra-Leftism, or Mass Action.”

Daily Emerald reporters will continue to monitor conditions at the encampment throughout the night. Stay tuned for the latest.
Updated 9:51 p.m.
Students at the encampment are preparing for their ninth night on the Memorial Quad, and the first after UO President John Karl Scholz announced the university would “move forward with the student conduct code process” against demonstrators after repeatedly asking them to end the overnight encampment.
University spokesperson Angela Seydel declined to elaborate on how the process would be enforced, referring to the procedures found on the Dean of Students’ website. Overnight camping would likely constitute a “general violation” of the student conduct code, due to “unauthorized access/use” of university space.
The Emerald has reached out to the university and UOPD Chief Jason Wade regarding the possibility of police clearing the encampment. Prior university statements have indicated a preference for a peaceful resolution to the demonstrations.
Daily Emerald reporters will continue to monitor conditions at the encampment throughout the night. Stay tuned for the latest.
Updated 8:05 p.m.

Local business owner Ibrahim Hamide, who owns Cafe Soriah on East 13th Avenue, spoke to the encampment about his personal experience living under occupation.

Hamide said his family still lives under occupation, and his last visit to Palestine was in 2017.

“I did not want to leave,” Hamide said. “But I was forced to leave in many senses.”

Hamide said he left because he didn’t want to give up his freedom, and thanked students for “standing for human rights.”

Updated 7:31 p.m.

A person was seen atop of the Knight Library around 6:45 p.m. seemingly adjusting cameras that were installed earlier this morning. The new cameras on Knight Library were installed after similar cameras were removed from Chapman Hall and installed atop the Lillis Business Complex on May 2. 

The Daily Emerald has reached out to the university for a statement regarding the new cameras and is awaiting response. 

Around 6:15 p.m., demonstrators led by UO Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine gathered for a “scholasticide” vigil to remember the “victims of scholasticide in Gaza.” The destruction of Gazan universities and the killings of Gazan educators and students during the Israel-Hamas war has been a focal point of the encampment thus far.

The vigil started with a choir performance by the Eugene Ceasefire Choir, singing a song that went “I pray for peace and liberation, I pray for peace in every nation.” 

Six UO faculty members made speeches, including women’s, gender and sexuality studies instructor Andrea Herrera and PathwayOregon data and program assistant Chris Case. 
Case’s speech highlighted the impacts of the “systemic destruction” of “people’s educational system.” 

“This is all occurring in the midst of what the United States Human Rights Council has termed an ‘act of scholasticide,’ or the systemic destruction of an entire people’s educational system. 80% of schools have been destroyed in Gaza as at the end of last month,” Case said. “The last university was leveled in January. Over 5,000 students, more than 200 teachers and nearly 100 university professors alone have been killed since the conflict.”

Last month’s findings from United Nations experts corroborate Case’s statistics. The Israeli Defense Forces have blamed “exploitation of civilian structures for terror purposes” by Hamas as reasons for the destruction, according to the New York Times. 

Demonstrators walked to Johnson Hall during the final portion of the vigil to leave posters and candles representing academic faculty and universities impacted in Gaza.

UO faculty members, including Herrera and College of Education instructor Kaleigh Bronson, wore their graduation “regalia” to both the vigil and the rally for “those folks who are no longer with us and cannot wear their regalia.”

At least 129 UO staff and faculty have signed a statement supporting the encampment, and dozens appeared at the rally to “defend Gaza” and “defend each other” this morning.
Updated 3:52 p.m.
Students at the encampment were largely unsurprised by President Scholz’s email statement, three media liaisons said following Scholz’s comments.
One student, identifying themselves as LJ Smith, said that the encampment had been prepared to face the risks of student conduct code violations “since day one.”
“Before this even started, we’ve been having very open and honest conversations about this encampment and what it means to be here,” Smith said. “We’ve known from the beginning that this was on the table.”
Smith said that students in the encampment have remained vigilant about ensuring only students are overnight campers, citing security concerns for both students and the larger campus community.
“Everybody is onboarded and we check that [student status] and we work closely with our respective teams to make sure of that,” Smith said. “During the day, community members are welcome and encouraged to be here, but we are very careful that it is only students here at night.”
Smith disputed Scholz’s claims that the encampment was a “drain on scarce resources,” and that there had been “antisemitic provocations” from students in the encampment. UO spokesperson Angela Seydel declined to provide further details on either of these remarks in Scholz’s statement.
“There’s a really strict code of conduct within the encampment about how we conduct ourselves and what we are saying, especially because some of our main organizers are Jewish students,” Smith said. “They are absolutely essential to this mission and we work very hard to care for them.”
Seydel declined to comment further on how the student conduct process would work, saying “information about conduct code proceedings can be found on the Dean of Student’s [sic] website and linked to the Free Speech website.”
Updated 3:26 p.m.

UO president John Karl Scholz confirmed that the university would “move forward with the student conduct process related to violations of campus policy” after amnesty for student demonstrators at the encampment expired at noon. 

In a 3:19 p.m. statement to students and the university community, Scholz acknowledged students’ peaceful conduct thus far “relative to experiences at other institutions,” expressed “three critical concerns” regarding the encampment. 

The three concerns from the president’s office statement are as follows:

• The encampment violates “long standing” university rules, which were “designed for the safety and well-being of all our students.”

• The encampment is a “problematic drain on scarce resources” for the university’s “educational mission.”

• That outside groups will escalate the protest measures and/or that there will be a rise in “antisemitic provocation,” which Scholz said has been seen at the university.

Scholz stated that negotiators attempted to convince encampment leaders to end and peacefully remove the overnight encampment. The statement also included a timeline of meetings between student negotiators and university administrators, including “leaders from Student Life and Safety and Risk Services.”

“In asking for overnight camping to end, I refute the claim that the university is in any way limiting academic freedom or demonstrators’ right to free expression or peaceful assembly,” the statement said.

It was not immediately clear how the university would move forward with enforcing the student conduct code. The Emerald has reached out to the university for further comment.

 
Updated 2:46 p.m.
Around 120 demonstrators remain at the encampment, though events have settled since the rally concluded at around 12:30 p.m. A media liaison going by LJ Smith said that they were unsure whether further negotiations with the university would be taking place today.
Smith also said that UOPD had not appeared at the encampment today, and that organizers did not have a “high anticipation” of police presence due to the number of parties calling for “the safety of the encampment.”
Smith also condemned the police actions taken against other pro-Palestine demonstrations at college campuses across the country. The New York Times has reported that over 2,500 arrests have occurred at these demonstrations on 54 university campuses since April 18.
“At this point in time, we are aware that we are not in the same situation as some of those encampments,” Smith said. “However, we have also seen the way that things play out.”
Updated 12:58 p.m.
Roughly 150 demonstrators remain at the encampment following the conclusion of the rally to “defend Gaza” and “defend each other.”
Setup for the ASUO Street Faire has begun as various tables, chairs and vendors are being placed along 13th Avenue. The setup was expected to begin at 12 p.m., but was delayed slightly due to the rally.
ASUO has been working with leaders in the encampment to ensure both events can occur at the same time, according to ASUO Secretary of Engagement Cash Kowalski. Some vendors normally placed on and in front of the Memorial Quad have been relocated or pushed onto the street.
Emily, a coordinator for the street faire, said that ASUO had nothing to do with the alleged 12 p.m. deadline given sent to student negotiators regarding amnesty from student conduct code violations.
“We’re pretty separate from what the university has decided to do,” she said.
UOPD officers were not seen at or adjacent to the encampment during the rally. UO spokesperson Angela Seydel said that UOPD officers were not assigned to stay at the event and were “doing their regular patrols of campus.” Instead, “fire marshal representatives” were briefly on site, along with “members of the demonstration team.”
Updated 12:39 p.m.
The rally has concluded, but organizers are encouraging demonstrators to remain at the camp.
Towards the rally’s conclusion, a graduate student and negotiator for the encampment provided updates on negotiations with the university. The student said negotiations had largely not progressed since the university’s initial proposal on Friday.
“They have sent vague messages to the community, incorrectly positioning us as something that is anything other than a peaceful f—king protest,” the student said. “We are f—king camping and they are scared of that.”
The student elaborated on a press release put out yesterday by spokespersons for the encampment, which indicated the university had refused various demands including ending academic exchanges with Israeli universities, divestment from various companies with ties to Israel and the Israeli military, and releasing a statement condemning Israeli military actions in Gaza.
The speech also said the university had mischaracterized the encampment, calling it a peaceful protest and contesting claims that the demonstrations were antisemitic.
“We’re not antisemitic, we’re Jews,” the student said. “The Israeli state does not speak for Jews.”
Angela Seydel, a UO spokesperson, said that the university expects to issue more information this afternoon on the status of negotiations.
“The university remains committed to a peaceful resolution of the encampment,” Seydel said.
Updated 12:15 p.m.
Gabriela Moreno, a leader of UO Jewish Voice for Peace, addressed the rally with a speech tying the rally to Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, which took place yesterday, May 6. 
“Much of my family was murdered during the Holocaust, like many other Jewish people,” Moreno said.  “I brought up in negotiations that yesterday was Holocaust Remembrance Day. And that did nothing to convince them [university officials].”
Moreno condemned the university and said that they are “taking a stance” on the Israel-Hamas war by not divesting. She also said negotiations have made it seem like university officials believe demonstrators are “camping for fun.” Moreno also criticized the university for refusing to end academic exchanges with Israeli universities.
“Why would we have academic ties with a university that, if we were to send our students there, we could not guarantee their safeties?” Moreno said.
Earlier today, negotiators for the university did not comment on the meetings when approached by a Daily Emerald reporter.
Updated 12:05 p.m.
The rally is still ongoing as students have returned to the encampment from Johnson Hall. Salem Khoury, co-president of UO Students for Justice in Palestine, is addressing the hundreds of gathered demonstrators.
Three students are tabling in front of the Erb Memorial Union at a table covered with Israeli flags.
One student named Rachel, who declined to share her last name, said that she was tabling to let “students who support Israel know that they are not alone.”
Rachel said that she felt the encampment had escalated to the point of “intimidation” but said she hopes it ends peacefully.
“We know they’re gonna stay as long as they want to say, but you can always hope they’ll peacefully go,” Rachel said. “We just are looking for a peaceful end to this.”
Updated 11:30 a.m.
Demonstrators have marched to Johnson Hall, the UO administration building, where hundreds of students are packed at the hall’s steps and on. the Johnson Hall lawn.
Negotiators are expected to give updates on discussions with university officials. One, a graduate student, described demonstrators’ demands as a “practical matter.”
Several trucks from Campus Planning and Facilities Management are present adjacent to Johnson Hall, potentially for the ASUO Street Faire which begins set-up at 12 p.m., according to ASUO Secretary of Engagement Cash Kowalski.
UOPD officers have not been seen near the encampment as of this writing. 
Updated 10:54 a.m.
Student negotiators could be seen leaving the Lillis Business Complex chanting “free, free Palestine” just a few moments ago. Two of the six were in tears.
Staff and faculty who signed a letter in support of the encampment were called to stand in front of the rally, and roughly 50 did so.
Dozens more students have joined the encampment in just the last 15 minutes.
Updated 10:44 a.m.

Roughly 300 demonstrators are gathered between the encampment and the Lillis Business Complex, calling for the university to “condemn genocide” and meet the protesters’ demands on divestment. 

Salem Younes, a student organizer and co-president of UO Students for Justice in Palestine, condemned the university’s alleged calls to end the encampment, saying the encampment has not been disruptive or “getting in their [the university’s] way.”

Leilani Sabzalian, a UO professor of education, also spoke, recognizing other staff and faculty in the audience who support the encampment. She said the university is “complicit” in the destruction of universities in Gaza.

“Other faculty and staff are here today to say we support these students and we’re here,” Sabzalian said. “But honestly, it’s the student leaders who are teaching us how to be civic leaders and change-makers.”

Updated 9:46 a.m.

Shortly before 10 a.m., the UO Coalition for Palestine’s negotiations team were seen entering the Lillis  Business Complex, where negotiations have been taking place between the coalition’s representative and university administrators. 

A large rally is expected to be held at 10:30 a.m. outside of Lillis to “defend Gaza” and “defend each other,” with student protesters saying that their freedom of speech is being “threatened” by university administrators.
Updated 8:34 a.m.
UO spokesperson Angela Seydel has confirmed that UOPD will be “doing their normal campus patrols this morning” and that they will “be available to respond if needed,” a similar statement to past days of the encampment.
Thus far, UOPD has not been called to the site or to break up the encampment, and has been engaging in regular campus patrols since demonstrations began on April 29.
Updated 8:14 a.m.
Day nine of UO’s pro-Palestine encampment begins in uncertainty, as students in the camp prepare for a last-minute 10:30 a.m. rally in front of the Lillis Business Complex. The rally was announced yesterday amid major developments in the war in Gaza, where Israeli tanks entered the city of Rafah this morning, as well as significant developments in student negotiators’ discussions with the university.
Allegedly, UO officials told negotiators they would be willing to forego pursuit of student conduct code charges if there is “no further overnight camping” as of 12 p.m. today. That is not the plan student organizers have put forth — their announced schedule indicates a packed day full of events, including a “scholasticide vigil” at 6:15 p.m. with UO Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine condemning the killings of educators and students in Gaza.
As of this writing, 121 UO staff and faculty had signed on to UOFSJP’s statement in support of students in the encampment.
The university has also allegedly refused some of the demonstrators’ other demands, including divestment, the end of academic exchanges with Israeli universities and a statement condemning Israeli military actions in Gaza.
UO declined to comment on these statements or any of the ongoing negotiations.
The Emerald has reached out to the university about whether UOPD involvement can be expected today. Follow along for the latest updates.