MSU Mankato pro-Palestinian encampment continues into commencement weekend
Pro-Palestinian protests are happening on college campuses nationwide, including an encampment at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
Community and student groups painted signs and sat outside of tents on campus. Some played music on guitars and others made T-shirts. They promised school officials not to disrupt commencement events or finals taking place as families walked by with students wearing caps and gowns.
Natalia Orocio, a 22-year-old MSU Mankato senior and an encampment organizer of Mavericks for Change said MSU Mankato administrators' response surprised her as they supported the group's right to protest.
“As we saw from places like UCLA and Columbia that peaceful protests were met with a lot of police in riot gear,” Orocio said. “I am a bit grateful to be, like, in Minnesota, where peaceful protesters are met a bit more with trying to reach a compromise.”
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Organizers of pro-Palestinian protests at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities campus and university leadership announced yesterday they reached an agreement to end the dayslong encampment on Northrop Mall.
Buildings on campus that were closed earlier this week reopened. Interim University President Jeff Ettinger sent a message to students, faculty and staff just after 7 a.m. that outlined the agreement.
Meanwhile, MSU Mankato President Edward Inch sent a campus-wide message on Thursday after 4 p.m. about the encampment and the agreement between the school and Mavericks for Change about the protest going into the weekend.
“We are a public university. At our core, open dialogue and expression are critical for us to fulfill our mission,” the statement reads. “We respect our students’ right to express themselves in a peaceful manner. And, we will protect the rights of our students, staff and faculty to free speech, expression, petition, and peaceful assembly as set forth in the U.S. Constitution.”
The campus mall was designated an area for the demonstration, and the groups agreed to follow the university’s policy and not disrupt commencement celebrations and activities. Also, activities will end at 10 p.m. each day.
“As long as university policies are followed and our community remains safe, the University supports the rights of the students to hold this planned protest,” the statement reads. “We will not tolerate intimidation, or harassment of any students, faculty or staff. We expect everyone in our campus community, as well as our commencement guests to engage with one another in a civil and respectful manner.”
Protesters are optimistic, but cautious, as they still haven't heard from university leaders about their demands for divesting from companies tied to the Israeli military.
Zena Al Safar, a 30-year-old graduate student studying gender and women’s studies from Duhok, Iraq, said while summer vacation will start and the campus will likely quiet down, students will continue to advocate for Palestine.
“We just want to keep it going as long as there are students who are willing to go with it,” Al Safar says. “As long as we are able to show the administration that the students actually care about what’s happening, and we want the administration to reply to our demands.”
The nationwide campus protests are happening in response to Israel’s offensive in Gaza, after Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7. Militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostages.
Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, vowing to stamp out Hamas, according to the Health Ministry there.
There’s growing rebuke of politician’s handling of the crisis in Gaza, and this could be reflected in November’s elections and how representatives respond. Jameel Haque, associate professor of history and director of the Kessel Peace Institute, said all eyes are on Gaza.
“This is going to be a huge problem in November,” Haque says. “I don’t think they’re aware of how upset young people are right now with the government’s policy toward Gaza. …the fact that our politicians can’t even bring themselves to say that Palestinians are human beings is an incredibly huge problem. It really shows the limits of what American democracy is right now.”