University Of California Announces Ban On Encampments

University of California President Michael V. Drake announced on Monday that the University of California system would be banning encampments on campus this semester, as well as face masks used to conceal identities in an attempt to reign in protests that rocked campuses across California and the nation earlier this year.

Between late April and Early June, several pro-Palestine, pro-Hamas protests and encampments have turned into mass arrest events in California. The first such event occurred on April 24th when protesters refused to leave an encampment at the USC campus in Los Angeles. Law enforcement subsequently moved in, razing the encampment and arresting 93 protestors, of whom over 50 were students. On April 30th, another 35 students were arrested at Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata when, after a week of occupying 2 buildings on campus, law enforcement officers retook both in a major sweep.

Another encampment bust on May 2nd, this time at UCLA, destroyed one of the largest protester encampments in the country, leading to 210 arrests. Less than a week later, 65 were arrested at UC San Diego. Heading into late May, 50 were arrested at UC Irvine on May 15th, with over a dozen being arrested at UC Berkeley the very next day. With Universities letting out for the spring semester, protests on campus began to dwindle. Protests even moved into city areas. However, campus protests did continue, with over 80 protesters being arrested at UC Santa Cruz last week on May 31st.

In June, with classes ending, things wound down, few protests in California have led to arrests. Stanford University saw 13 students arrested earlier this month for blocking police, occupying and vandalizing the President’s office. Another 70 were arrested in San Francisco for entering and briefly occupying the lobby of the Israeli consulate. But most protesters simply dispersed and avoided arrest, such as what happened when the LAPD cleared a protester encampment outside of Los Angeles’ City Hall. The last major campus protests with arrests occurred on June 10th, with 25 pro-Palestinian students arrested at UCLA.

During this whole time, campuses tried everything to corral protests, including campuses removals, suspensions, students being kicked out of dorms, and in extreme cases, expulsions. Once hesitant to use police, Universities also went from waiting days or even weeks to bring in law enforcement, to bringing them in within hours of a protest or encampment springing up. And with  many students groups threatening large protests and encampments yet again, colleges and universities across California took action. Many were initially hesitant on any fall bans because of possible freedom of speech violation fears. But as more and more started bans, as well as fears growing on how Jewish students would be affected like they were in the 2024 Spring semester, it quickly cascaded.

Last week, many private colleges announced similar encampment bans. The California State University system announced last Thursday a ban on not only  tent encampments and overnight demonstrations, but also barricades, fencing, and in limited cases, facemasks.

“Encampments are prohibited by the policy, and those who attempt to start an encampment may be disciplined or sanctioned,” said CSU in a statement. “Campus presidents and their designated officials will enforce this prohibition and take appropriate steps to stop encampments, including giving clear notice to those in violation that they must discontinue their encampment activities immediately.

“The encampments are disruptive and can cause a hostile environment for some community members. We have an obligation to ensure that all community members can access University Property and University programs.”

The UC encampment, limited face mask ban

CSU’s ban announcement encouraged UC officials to bring about a similar ban, with UC President Drake announced on Monday. In addition to encampments, a ban on “unauthorized structures” will also be put into place. Masking will also be banned, but only with the intent of intimidating any person or group, or for the purpose of evading or escaping discovery, recognition, or identification in the commission of violations of law or policy. Face masks for health reasons or during authorized protests will still be allowed.

“Freedom to express diverse viewpoints is fundamental to the mission of the University, and lawful protests play a pivotal role in that process,” said President Drake in a letter. “While the vast majority of protests held on our campuses are peaceful and nonviolent, some of the activities we saw this past year were not.

“I hope that the direction provided in this letter will help you achieve an inclusive and welcoming environment at our campuses that protects and enables free expression while ensuring the safety of all community members by providing greater clarity and consistency in our policies and policy application.”

Protestors are also hampered by UC schools at keeping their word on disciplinary measures. Over 200 students at UCLA are still up in the air on if the University will prosecute them, with them joining another protest likely to trigger more legal proceedings. Withholding of academic records and degrees are also still possible for many students from last years protests.

As for UC, they themselves are still hampered by state and legal matters. A court ruling last week ruled that pro-Palestinian protestors can not legally block Jewish students from entering campus or campus buildings. The state is also withholding $25 million from UC until they put into place a systemwide framework for enforcing encampment and protest rules across the system. And with donors also refusing to give until things are changed, UC decided on the new measures.

“CSU, and now, UC have made it clear that they are not playing this semester, said researcher Sandy Crane, who studies college protest movements, to the Globe on Monday. “They don’t want huge protests, encampments, or huge arrest events again. State lawmakers are mad, cities are mad, students are mad, alumni are mad. Everyone was mad except the protesters it seems.

“These are very stringent measures, and when combined with more academic and university restrictions, protesters are going to give a lot of pause. Gaza protests will still happen, as will those on election matters. But expect it to be more organized, not rowdy and to just go on for a few hours. One tent goes up or some student spray paints something, police will swoop in. So far, only student protest groups have come out against this. But with first amendment right concerns being met previously with these, they won’t have much of a leg to stand on. Unless, of course, they want to risk suspension, expulsions, and being removed from room and board.”

Other California universities are expected to announce similar new policies soon.