University deal based on condition students must leave
About 50 Portland State University students ended their pro-Palestinian take-over of the campus library Wednesday after administrators agreed not to punish them, according to school leaders.
However, some protesters remain in the building after refusing the university’s negotiations, KGW News 8 reports.
Anti-Israel protesters have been occupying the Millar Library since Monday when they broke inside, painted over security cameras, and barricaded themselves in, The Post Millennial senior editor Andy Ngo reported on X.
Since then, university leaders have been negotiating with the protesters. They closed the campus Tuesday and Wednesday, canceling all in-person classes and events due to the “ongoing incident at library,” according to a campus alert.
On Wednesday morning, Portland State President Ann Cudd said in a university-wide letter that about 50 protesters left the building after agreeing to a deal, according to KGW News 8.
Among other things, Cudd said the university agreed not to expel, suspend, or file criminal charges in exchange for them leaving the building by 1:30 a.m.
To those who refused the deal, Cudd said, “I fervently wish that the students in the library had signed on to our agreement, but, after their negotiators told us they had a deal, they apparently chose not to sign.”
Cudd said she still hopes for a “peaceful resolution.” She also said some of those still occupying the building are not students.
According to Ngo, the radical leftist group Antifa has been involved in organizing the siege.
Portland, Ore. — As @Portland_State’s president allows the Antifa encampment for Gaza to grow at the library, the militants have begun vandalizing it and the surrounding building. The library has also closed. pic.twitter.com/0yORKPTjsF
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) April 30, 2024
Videos and photos on X show the front of the library covered with debris and graffiti, including signs that read “Glory to our martyrs” and “Free Gaza” as well as Palestinian flags.
Oregon Live reports more:
Though most of the Millar Library’s first-floor windows have been covered, pictures inside at least two lower level areas show debris on the floor, furniture moved around and graffiti on some walls.
Protesters gathered outside the library have said they were determined to remain until their demands are met, including for the university to cut ties with any company or organization that has business interests in Israel and for the school’s administration to issue a call for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war.
Universities across the country have been rocked by similar demonstrations in recent days, leading to canceled classes, suspensions, and mass arrests. The protests — some peaceful and others violent — were sparked by the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
At Columbia University, three janitors said they were temporarily held hostage when protesters took over a building earlier this week, according to Fox News.
On Tuesday, U.S. House Republican leaders responded by harshly rebuking university leaders, calling them “mealy-mouthed” and “spineless” for not doing more to protect Jewish students, The College Fix reported.
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IMAGE: Aviva Klompas/X
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