Pro-Palestinian demonstration grows on Denver's Auraria campus with graduation 1 week away
As the war in Gaza continues, students In Fort Collins, Pueblo, Denver and Boulder are demanding that schools cut academic and financial ties with groups that are connected to Israel's military.
Demonstrators have erected a large encampment on the Auraria Campus, where the University of Colorado Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver and Community College of Denver will hold graduation celebrations in one week.
Auraria Campus CEO Colleen Walker initially enforced the campus's camping ban, but she is now taking a different, more diplomatic, approach in hopes of keeping the peace and keeping the campus open for the 38,000 students who are in the middle of final exams.
"We're in absolute support of your right to free speech, your right to assemble," she said.
She says the campus has been the site of 20 demonstrations since the war in Gaza started.
"We are very used to this," she said.
But she says the campus has rules and no camping is one of them.
"The tents are the issue," she said.
When protestors set up tents last Friday, campus leaders, including Walker, met with them.
"They were given multiple warnings, multiple. And only then did our police step in," she said.
Police arrested 40 people for trespassing. Hours later, Walker says, the encampment was back.
"They know that they are not within policy. They are committed to what they believe is a civil disobedience. And this a key time period for our campus. We are in the last week of core classes," she said.
She says campus leaders have been meeting with demonstrators almost daily since last Friday. Meanwhile, Auraria Chief of Staff Shaneis Malouff is tracking what's working and what's not working on other college campuses.
"Every turn and decision we make, we're watching the reaction and if the reaction leads to something that's not peaceful, we're keeping that in consideration because at the end of the day, safety is our No. 1 priority here on Auraria Campus. Our message to students is that we hear you, we see you, we're listening," she said.
Talks have been unsuccessful so far and in one week thousands of families will gather on the Tivoli Quad -- where currently about 100 tents are set-up -- for graduation events.
"We have a commitment to equity so that the quad has to be used by everyone," said Walker.
Her hope is to reach a compromise with protestors that involves relocating them to a different space before graduation.
Colorado State Patrol is working with campus police and the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management is helping the campus secure additional off duty officers.
A spokesperson for Gov. Jared Polis told CBS News Colorado:
"The leadership at Auraria has asked the state to help maintain a safe environment for the orderly operations of the campus and we are working closely with them to make sure all students and faculty are safe and able to participate in campus activities. In Colorado, we respect free speech and students' ability to peacefully protest while prioritizing student safety. It is important that students and faculty can safely move around campus to get to class, lunch, or their finals. The Governor focused on making sure that when we disagree, we do so respectfully, follow the rules, listen to one another, and find common ground to move Colorado forward."
