Gaza Protests: USC, UCLA Clear Encampments Again, Reopen Following Days Of Campus Closures

The Gaza Protests continued to have huge effects on Los Angeles universities on Sunday and Monday, with USC once again closing their campus to remove an encampment and protesters, while UCLA reopened following hundreds of arrests and a major campus clearing last week.

UCLA canceled all in-person classes on Monday, as Israel-Hamas war protests continue on campus for a second week. “All classes will be held remotely again,” CBS News reported midday Monday.

Since late April, protests over the Gaza War by Pro-Palestinian Protestors have caused major havoc across the country. California has been one of the major epicenters of the protests, with everything from run of the mill protests and encampments at universities UC Irvine and Stanford to multiple law enforcement agencies joining together to retake occupied buildings, arresting dozens on the Cal Poly Humboldt campus in Arcata. However, Los Angeles has seen seen some of the most notable protest actions in the state at the USC and UCLA campuses.

At USC, a total of 93 people were arrested at USC on April 24th, and an encampment cleared as a result. Since then, protesters have been in talks with the administration for divestment from Israel, but with USC refusing to budge on the issue. USC also halted a huge protest that was going to interfere with the commencement ceremony, by simply cancelling it and replacing it with a hard to protest celebration event instead. The 51 students who were part of the 93 arrested were also brought under disciplinary action last week, which could include drastic measures including suspension and expulsion. Those actions frustrated the Pro-Palestinian protesters, leading to another major protest and encampment on campus.

Meanwhile, at UCLA, they boasted of one of the largest protests and encampments in the country. However, clashes between protesters occurred several times, leading to many student injuries.  Police did not interfere initially during the second clash as so many students decided to go after each other. With the UCLA administration feeling pressure following the second incident, the LAPD and the California Highway Patrol finally broke up the encampment on May 2nd. This led to 210 people being arrested, and the encampment being torn down. The campus was also closed for the rest of the week as a precaution, giving protestors no where to go as a result.

During the weekend, things continued to foment at both campuses. At USC, protesters rebuilt the encampment and planned on resuming large-scale protests. Hoping to avoid another April 24th incident, the University planned on law enforcement to once again raze the encampment on Sunday. They also gave warning to students over social media, announcing that the campus was closed, giving protesters an hour to leave or face arrest.

“USC has been closed as a result of significant activity at the center of campus,” USC administration said on Sunday. “If you are in the center of campus, please leave. People who don’t leave will be arrested. We will issue another alert when it is clear to return.”

Rather than face arrest, protesters fled the area before police came in at 5 A.M. As a result, no arrests were made while police tore down and removed the new encampment. Once cleared, the campus reopened later on Sunday.

“Early this morning DPS, with the assistance of the LAPD, removed the occupiers who had rebuilt their illegal encampment in Alumni Park. The operation was peaceful. Campus is opening, students are returning to prepare for finals, and commencement set-up is in full swing,” said USC president Carol Folt in a statement. “When free speech protests devolve into illegal occupations, violating the rights of others, we must draw a line. The occupiers repeatedly chose to ignore university policies designed to benefit everyone, and to break the law. We needed to act quickly to protect the rights of our 80,000 students, staff, and faculty. We are in the critical period from the end-of-term quiet study week, through finals and our commencement ceremonies.”

“With no resolution in sight, I requested the LAPD to assist DPS in removing the encampment as peacefully and safely as possible. At 4:10 a.m., an order to disperse was issued, providing the trespassers one last opportunity to leave voluntarily. In 64 minutes, the encampment was abandoned and cleared. The operation was peaceful with no arrests. We will not tolerate illegal encampments of any kind at USC.”

I’m grateful to all who helped clear the encampment at USC Alumni Park today. See my latest campus update here:https://t.co/s4ZXWwJYtc

— Carol Folt (@PresidentFolt) May 5, 2024

Across town at UCLA, university officials took a different approach. A new office of campus safety was formed over the weekend to help better structure campus safety efforts and end criticism that the administration was at fault for not bringing in law enforcement sooner to the protest clash last week. The improving situation on campus also led to the campus reopening on Monday, with security present to help ensure a quiet final weeks for students.

“In the past week, our campus has been shaken by events that have disturbed this sense of safety and strained trust within our community,” said UCLA Chancellor Gene Block on Sunday. “In light of this, both UCLA and the UC Office of the President have committed to a thorough investigation of our security processes. But one thing is already clear: To best protect our community moving forward, urgent changes are needed in how we administer safety operations.”

“I am therefore taking several actions to significantly alter our campus safety structure. Effective immediately, I am moving oversight and management of UCLA PD and the Office of Emergency Management from the Office of the Administrative Vice Chancellor to a newly created Office of Campus Safety, whose leader reports directly to me. It is clear that UCLA needs a unit and leader whose sole responsibility is campus safety to guide us through tense times. This organizational structure, which elevates our safety and emergency management operations, has proven to be an effective one at other major universities across the country.”

Today, we are announcing immediate changes to the administration of UCLA's campus safety and emergency management operations. Please read my message to the campus community https://t.co/hRV2LSqxlN

— Gene Block (@UCLAchancellor) May 5, 2024

Researcher Sandy Crane, who studies college protest movements, told the Globe on Monday that “Both UCLA and USC are pretty angry that the protests got this far. Both schools made national headlines multiple times for arrests, protesters fighting, encampment clearings questions over delays of law enforcement action, and more. They just want student finals to go smoothly at this point, get graduations over with, and go into the less hectic summer that will have protesters no where to go. They’ll also have several months to prepare for the fall should Palestinian protest movements still be active.”

“They can’t cut the head off the snake, but they can have it no reason for being there.”

More updates on campus protesters will likely come out soon as the final weeks of the semester wrap up.