Rutgers protesters abide by university's 4 p.m. deadline to leave encampment. Here's the latest on postponed exams
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- A Rutgers University protest encampment was being dismantled on Thursday evening following a 4 p.m. school-imposed deadline to remove tents that have been up for a few days.
There was an air of calmness between protesters and counter protesters on the New Brunswick campus after the university warned the demonstrators that anyone remaining at the Voorhees Mall encampment past the deadline would be considered trespassing.
Many protesters told CBS New York they were preparing to leave.
The encampment in support of Palestinians has been up since Monday. The protesters were demanding that Rutgers end its relationship with Tel Aviv University and divest from companies that do business with Israel.
The school said it did agree to review student requests, but added a rally on campus on Thursday morning forced the administration to make the unprecedented decision to postpone final exams on campus.
The administration says 28 scheduled exams were disrupted, impacting more than 1,000 students, but will be rescheduled.
"They accepted eight of the 10 [demands] but not the most important, which is divesting, so that's what we want to do but we also want to respect the campus," one protester said.
"I think you can express your opinion, but the reason I'm here is to finally see this thing end -- not because of what they believe in but because the ruckus it has caused to the general population," student Ezra Pfeffer said.
The administration said future protests on Voorhees Mall, or anywhere else on campus, will be cleared out throughout the rest of the semester.