Students for a Democratic Society group protest against Auraria Campus Israeli connections
Students for a Democratic Society held a news conference Wednesday morning to announce new demands and tactics involving the growth of their encampment in Denver. This comes after they were asked to replace their tents on the Auraria Campus with canopies.
During a 20 minute news conference, the group members said they will continue talking with Metropolitan State University of Denver until their demands are met. These demands include MSU Denver writing and publishing a statement condemning genocide actions within one week of their news conference, banning study abroad programs to Israel, and not continuing to partner with any businesses that they say are supplying weapons to Israel.
Executive leaders of the Auraria Campus met for more than an hour with the leaders of the Students for a Democratic Society on Tuesday. The meeting included Auraria Higher Education Center CEO Colleen Walker, University of Colorado Denver Chancellor Michelle Marks and MSU Denver President Janine Davidson.
CU Denver does not have any study abroad programs in Israel.
"The Auraria Campus executive leaders have continued to support community members' free speech and peaceful assembly. They reiterated that the problem rests with camping, which is a violation of the Auraria Campus' long-standing campus policy," according to a release from the joint campus.
Group member Khalid Hamu told CBS Colorado until all of their their demands are met, they don't plan to leave their encampments.
"We don't plan to stop this encampment until our demands are met," Hamu said. "The university could meet our demands and we could pack up in 5 minutes. As long as they continue to help with genocide and as long as they continue to go against the will of the students, we will have this encampment up."
Member of the group have been protesting for six days and said they do not plan to change their tents to canopies.
