College protests updates: Police begin dismantling University of Chicago encampment

Police entered the campus encampment early Tuesday, WLS reported.

Protests have broken out at colleges and universities across the country in connection with the war in Gaza.

Many pro-Palestinian protesters are calling for their colleges to divest of funds from Israeli military operations, while some Jewish students on the campuses have called the protests antisemitic and said they are scared for their safety.

The student protests -- some of which have turned into around-the-clock encampments -- have erupted throughout the nation following arrests and student removals at Columbia University in New York City. Students at schools including Yale University, New York University, Harvard University, University of Texas at Austin, University of Southern California and more have launched protests.


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Cal Poly Humboldt campus leaders offer escorts to concerned students

Cal Poly Humboldt said it will close off campus to non-school members through May 10 as protesters have occupied two buildings.

Campus leaders also said it will now offer escorts off campus to anyone who feels their safety is threatened.

The school urged the protesters who have been occupying Siemens Hall and Nelson Hall East since last week to leave immediately.

"Leaving voluntarily will be considered as a possible mitigating factor in University conduct processes and may reduce the severity of sanctions imposed. This does not, however, eliminate responsibility for any potential conduct or criminal charges."

-ABC News' Bonnie McLean


UGA arrests protesters after 'crossing a line,' blocking sidewalks

The University of Georgia-Athens said protesters who set up an encampment on campus "crossed a line" Monday morning and several were arrested.

Approximately "25 protesters began erecting tents and a barricade, blocking sidewalks and building entrances and using amplified sound," school spokesman Greg Trevor said in a statement.

The protesters met with university police and student affairs members to discuss the violation and were given multiple warnings to remove the barriers, but they refused, according to Trevor.

"At 8:30 a.m., UGA Police were left with no choice but to arrest those who refused to comply," he said.

The school did not specify how many people were arrested.

"While we must provide ample opportunity for protected expressive activities, we also have the right and duty to regulate the time, place and manner in which they occur," Trevor said.

-ABC News' Ahmad Hemingway


Columbia tells protesters to leave encampment by 2 p.m.

Columbia University has distributed a letter to members of the encampment on campus telling them to gather their belongings and leave the area by 2 p.m., saying if they identify themselves and sign a form "to abide by all University policies through June 30, 2025, or the date of the conferral of your degree, whichever is earlier, you will be eligible to complete the semester in good standing."

The school said it has "already identified many students in the encampment" and "if you do not identify yourself upon leaving and sign the form now, you will not be eligible to sign and complete the semester in good standing." The school warned it could take action up to suspension or expulsion if they do not leave the encampment.

The school reiterated that negotiations with protesters had broken down and said the protests are a "disruption" to those taking final exams and preparing for graduation.

"As you are probably aware, the dialogue between the University and student leaders of the encampment is, regrettably, at an impasse," the letter states. "The current unauthorized encampment and disruption on Columbia University’s campus is creating an unwelcoming environment for members of our community. External actors have also contributed to this environment, especially around our gates, causing safety concerns – including for our neighbors."


Columbia cannot come to agreement with protesters, president says

Protesters at Columbia University, who sparked many of the protests across the nation earlier this month, are now being asked to voluntarily disperse after the school's president said it was not able to come to an agreement through negotiations.

Since Wednesday, "a small group of academic leaders has been in constructive dialogue with student organizers to find a path that would result in the dismantling of the encampment and adherence to University policies going forward. Regretfully, we were not able to come to an agreement," Columbia President Minouche Shafik said in a statement Monday morning.

One of the top demands of the protesters, for Columbia to divest from Israel, was flatly denied by the university, according to the statement.

The school asked protesters, who number in the hundreds, to voluntarily disperse, but offered no explanation for what would happen if they did not. The school said it did not "want to deprive thousands of students and their families and friends of a graduation celebration." The school's graduation ceremony is set to be held May 15.

"We urge those in the encampment to voluntarily disperse," Shafik wrote. "We are consulting with a broader group in our community to explore alternative internal options to end this crisis as soon as possible. We will continue to update the community with new developments."


University of California President orders independent review of overnight violence at UCLA

University of California President Michael V. Drake addressed the ongoing protests at UCLA that "turned violent" overnight, announcing in a statement on Wednesday an "independent external review" has been ordered.

The university summoned mutual aid from LAPD officers to "restore control" to the protest, according to Drake, who noted, there were 15 injuries, including one hospitalization, that stemmed from the protest.

"My office has requested a detailed accounting from the campus about what transpired in the early morning hours today," Drake said.

"But some confusion remains, therefore we are also ordering an independent external review of both UCLA’s planning and actions, and the effectiveness of the mutual aid response," Drake said.

UCLA's own chancellor, Gene D. Block, also promised an investigation.

"We are still gathering information about the attack on the encampment last night, and I can assure you that we will conduct a thorough investigation that may lead to arrests, expulsions and dismissals," Block told the campus community in a note Wednesday afternoon.

Block, in his note, said it was "a group of instigators" who came to Royce Quad to "forcefully attack the encampment that has been established there to advocate for Palestinian rights."

He called the overnight violence "utterly unacceptable."

"However one feels about the encampment, this attack on our students, faculty and community members was utterly unacceptable. It has shaken our campus to its core and — adding to other abhorrent incidents that we have witnessed and that have circulated on social media over the past several days — further damaged our community’s sense of security," his letter read.