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 22, the 24th day of the encampment.

Student negotiators and university officials reached an agreement to end the pro-Palestine encampment on the University of Oregon campus after 24 days. Five UO Coalition for Palestine representatives emerged from Johnson Hall, where the encampment was moved on May 16, after meeting with UO administrators including President John Karl Scholz. 

According to Michael Dreiling, a sociology professor and facilitator between the coalition and the university, encampment members have 24 hours to leave after signing the agreement. By the end of the night, some demonstrators were already packing up their tents, and cheers rang out from the site of the encampment when the deal was agreed upon.

A university spokesperson declined to comment on the agreement, and no formal statement has been issued by the university or the coalition as of this writing.

The agreement, proposed by the university and accepted by student demonstrators, follows six days of renewed negotiations between the parties.  

In a preliminary copy of the agreement obtained by the Daily Emerald, UO has agreed to:

• “Full participation” for students in a task force on ethical investment, purchasing and contracting, which was announced earlier today in a 3 p.m. University Senate meeting.
• “No adverse action” for “member[s] or groups (official or unofficial) of the University of Oregon” regarding “protected speech,” and the end of the encampment as a “favorable mitigating factor” in the resolution of any potential student conduct code violations.
• Create a “Palestinian studies program” and invite interested students and faculty to work with the UO Senate’s study abroad program to ensure all study abroad programs are “inclusive.” 
• Develop a new inter-institutional exchange partnership with Birzeit University in the West Bank. 
• Develop plans to host scholars or students directly impacted by the Palestine-Israel conflict. 
• Provide scholarships for displaced students in Gaza “transitioning to our university.”
• Develop a “cluster” of experts on the study of Israel/Palestine.

Carolyn Roderique, a UO student and media liaison for the encampment, said that the results feel “damn good.”

“The movement’s not over, we’re not done, but this is a launch pad,” Roderique said. “It’s great to know that our tactic worked.”

The encampment will end tomorrow with no direct action taken by police, in stark contrast to dozens of other college campuses across the country. In 24 days, police patrolled the scene, but were never called to break up the encampment or arrest students.

Likewise, the encampment remained consistently peaceful throughout. While demonstrators escalated their tactics in final days — including camping in front of and painting Johnson Hall, throwing papers and leaflets, and marching through academic buildings — the encampment never occupied university buildings, nor did it draw substantial counter-protests.

Read on for live updates as they happened.

Updated 9:46 p.m.

At 9:32 p.m., five University of Oregon Coalition for Palestine representatives emerged from Johnson Hall after meeting with UO administration, including UO President John Karl Scholz. 

According to negotiator Diego Duarte, the coalition’s negotiations team signed a final agreement with administration to end the encampment immediately. 

Encampment members have begun removing signs and tents from the front of Johnson Hall, however, over 50 tents remain in the grass between Fenton and Friendly halls. 

According to Michael Dreiling, a sociology professor and facilitator between the coalition and the university, encampment members have 24 hours to leave after signing the agreement.

Protestors are currently gathered around the steps of Johnson, playing music, dancing and packing up supplies.

Updated 9:33 p.m.

How the agreement was made

According to Michael Dreiling, a sociology professor and facilitator between the coalition and the university, the agreement was worked on for the past six days between the coalition’s negotiation team and the Office of the Provost, Office of the President, Division of Global Engagement and University Senate. 

Dreiling said that around 5:40 p.m., the final draft was completed and members of the encampment voted on the draft, asking for “securing a commitment for five scholarships for students who have been displaced by the ongoing war in Gaza.”

Dreiling said the agreement document has been “approved by all parties” and is currently awaiting formal signing. 

UO says students will not face “adverse action” for “protected speech activities”

The agreement states that no members or groups found to have been present at the encampment will face “adverse action as a result of their participation in protected speech activities.”

The university’s response to the coalition’s request for amnesty is that the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards is committed to an educational and “student-centered” process. The university asks that all encampment-related materials are removed.

Individual students who did not violate the restrictions against overnight camping and amplified sound will not be referred to the Office of Student Conduct. Those that did would have “favorable mitigating factors” in any student conduct code violations provided the encampment ends.

“The Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards will consider the ending of the encampment and commitment to future compliance with established campus policies as favorable mitigating factors in the resolution of any potential student violations of policy to overnight camping, utilizing space without a reservation and improper use of amplified sound,” the agreement said.

Responses to demands on divestment, education, scholarships

The coalition’s previously listed demands on divestment no longer specifically ask that UO divest from its endowment from Jasper Ridge Partners, according to the agreement, but demand that “steps be taken to ensure that no UO endowment money is invested in the US-Israeli war machine and present a practical plan to accomplish this.”

The coalition asked for the creation of a new Palestinian studies program that would hire three visiting Palestinian faculty and a permanent Middle East and Northern Africa-endowed chair. 

The university agreed to a May 31 meeting with a faculty committee which manages the Global Justice Program, a program that hosts visiting professors on international relations. The university asks that the program considers a commitment of $50,000 each year for the next three years to bring visiting scholars who will offer courses on Palestine and Israel.

A faculty and staff committee, convened by the Division of Global Engagement, will develop plans over the summer to regularly host 2-3 scholars and/or students who have been directly impacted by the Israel-Hamas war.

The Division of Global Engagement will also develop scholarships for students who will come to UO through these visiting programs, financially funded through “philanthropic support” aiming to expand the program further.

Additionally, UO will add language to the Office of Admissions website specific to working with and welcoming applications from students who have been displaced from universities in Gaz

Five scholarships will be made available to qualified and eligible students who have been displaced because of the war. There will also be support services for students displaced by the war in Gaza including dedicated orientation programs, immigration and visa services and advising.

The UO Office of the Provost will “encourage” the School of Global Languages and Studies to develop a group of experts on Israel and Palestine. 

This will consist of two new positions and two existing positions. The two new positions are Modern Middle Eastern Studies in Comparative Context and Modern Middle Eastern Studies with a Palestinian emphasis. 

Already existing is a position in the global studies school with particular attention to the impact on Palestinians of the Israeli criminal justice system, and in anthropology in the Iranian Diaspora and Iranian and Kurdish feminisms.

The coalition asked that a West Asia, North Africa and South Asia Cultural Center be created. It states that the center should keep a regular budget and be guaranteed physical space in the Erb Memorial Union.

The university stated that the Division of Global Engagement and Student Life will pursue a “vision” for the space, given the “lack of availability” in the EMU.

Updated 8:51 p.m. 

An agreement has been reached between the University of Oregon Coalition for Palestine and the University of Oregon, according to multiple students and faculty members familiar with negotiations, ending the 24-day long encampment which first began on April 29.

A university spokesperson declined to comment on the agreement.

The agreement, proposed by the university and accepted by student demonstrators, follows six days of renewed negotiations between the parties.  

In a preliminary copy of the agreement obtained by the Daily Emerald, UO has agreed to:

• “Full participation” for students in a task force on ethical investment, purchasing and contracting, which was announced earlier today in a 3 p.m. University Senate meeting.
• “No adverse action” for “member[s] or groups (official or unofficial) of the University of Oregon” regarding “protected speech,” and the end of the encampment as a “favorable mitigating factor” in the resolution of any potential student conduct code violations.
• Create a “Palestinian studies program” and invite interested students and faculty to work with the UO Senate’s study abroad program to ensure all study abroad programs are “inclusive.” 
• Develop a new inter-institutional exchange partnership with Birzeit University in the West Bank. 
• Develop plans to host scholars or students directly impacted by the Palestine-Israel conflict. 
• Provide scholarships for displaced students in Gaza “transitioning to our university.”
• Develop a “cluster” of experts on the study of Israel/Palestine.

Students in the encampment cheered and celebrated when the agreement was announced, and some demonstrators are already packing up their tents from the lawn between Fenton and Friendly Halls. 

Updated 8:27 p.m.

Protesters have reached a deal with university administrators to end the encampment on the University of Oregon campus, which has been ongoing since April 29 at 7 a.m.

More details on the agreement are forthcoming. 

Updated 8:00 p.m.

Protesters at the University of Oregon pro-Palestine encampment are reaching a deal with university administrators to end the encampment after 24 days, multiple people close to the negotiations have told the Emerald.

Updated 4:27 p.m. 

In an email statement to the Emerald, Dyana Mason, chairperson of the newly formed university task force on “ethical investment, purchasing and contracting,” said she was “honored” to have been chosen for the position by Senate President Gerald Sandoval.

“I look forward to partnering with other members of the task force — including students, staff and faculty, and the administration to ensure that the university’s practices and policies are consistent with our stated academic, research and public service mission,” Mason said. 

The taskforce was formed in response to pro-Palestine encampment members’ demands that the UO divest from companies with ties to Israel. 

Mason stated that she hopes to offer recommendations to the UO Foundation and administration to “ensure that the university’s actions are consistent.”

Updated 3:31 p.m.

UO President John Karl Scholz and interim provost Karen Ford, whom Gerard Sandoval said had played an “instrumental role” in negotiations, spoke at the meeting.

Scholz credited demonstrators for their “stated desire” to “avoid violence, threats and destruction of property,” but claimed that there has been an increase in vandalism and “criminal activity” in recent days. Scholz said that “foremost in our mind is the safety and wellbeing of our community.”

Behaviors specifically named by Scholz were “obstructing a university building, barring entrances, defacing buildings and walkways and rallying and marching through academic buildings with amplified sound.”

Scholz said that he hoped any encampment members listening to his remarks would support “efforts to reach a resolution that will end the encampment.” 

Scholz briefly opened the floor to questions from senators, but none asked a question.  

Updated 3:13 p.m.

At the University Senate meeting held over Zoom, Senate President Gerard Sandoval announced that the senate had proposed a new task force to focus on “ethical investment, purchasing and contracting.” 

Sandoval said that negotiators, led by UO Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine member and sociology professor Michael Dreiling, have been meeting with leaders of the encampment daily from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. since negotiations resumed on May 17.

According to Sandoval, the senate met with encampment leaders last night to discuss the task force, which would help “institutionalize some of their demands” and “serve as a platform for them to negotiate with administrators.”

Salem Younes, an organizer of the encampment and co-leader of Students for Justice in Palestine, confirmed that encampment leaders voted in favor of the task force last night. 

Younes also said that discussions on the task force took place at yesterday’s “mass meeting with faculty guests.” Guests included Sandoval, Dreiling and Senate Vice President Alison Schmitke. 

“We shouldn’t have had to do all this just so the university wouldn’t put that money in a sh—tty place, but here we are,” Younes said. “It’s only propelling us more towards our demands and what we can do here on the ground to help the liberation of the Palestinian people.”  

It is not yet clear what impact the task force’s formation will have on the duration of the encampment. 

Dyana Mason, a university senator and associate professor of planning, public policy and management, has been selected to serve as the chair of the task force. Mason has also worked extensively with nonprofit organizations. Sandoval, who was responsible for choosing a chair, said Mason was chosen for her “calm and collaborative” leadership style. 

Updated 3:05 p.m.

The University Senate meeting has been called to order, with nearly 70 participants joining the public Zoom call. Remarks are expected from UO President John Karl Scholz and interim provost Karen Ford. 

Updated 11:10 a.m.

With just under four hours before the University Senate meeting, Salem Younes, an organizer of the encampment and co-leader of Students for Justice in Palestine, said they expected the topic of the pro-Palestine encampment would be raised by members of the Senate. 

“They’re probably going to acknowledge it,” Younes said. “Our hope is that they take us seriously, take our demands seriously.” 

Younes also said they do not anticipate the university to propose an appropriate deal with encampment organizers after rounds of negotiations. 

“I don’t have very good faith that… the deal that they’re gonna propose to us is going to be good or anything that we’re going for,” Younes said. 

Updated 9:32 a.m.

It’s day 24 of the pro-Palestine encampment on the University of Oregon campus. 

The morning is quiet as students walk to class and UO Planning and Facilities Management manages the land surrounding the encampment. UOPD has continued to visibly patrol the encampment throughout the week. One UOPD vehicle is currently stationed on East 13th Avenue outside of Columbia Hall. 

A University Senate meeting today could provide more clarity on the university’s response to the encampment moving forward. President John Karl Scholz is scheduled to give remarks at the meeting, which is open to community members via Zoom and begins at 3 p.m.