Pro-Palestinian protestors formed an encampment this week at Oregon State University in Corvallis. Now they're facing a deadline to disperse.
Since Wednesday morning, students have been occupying a corner of the Memorial Union Quad. They're asking OSU to disclose its financial investments, and adopt a Boycott-Divest-Sanction campaign against Israel.
Ash Estevan is a reporter with OSU's student newspaper, The Daily Barometer. She estimates that there were roughly 30 tents at the site as of Friday afternoon.
"There's not a heavy police presence," said Estevan. "It's very, very calm at the moment."
In a written response this week, OSU invited protestors to help create new educational resources, and said it will launch a task force this fall to evaluate its procurement policies.
However, the university said the encampment must be gone by this Tuesday, or it will take disciplinary action.
"We will begin using methods available to us to hold participants accountable for violations of policy under the student conduct code and criminal statutes," officials wrote.
OSU said the encampment violates the campus' free expression and ground-use rules, while interfering with other scheduled events that have non-refundable contracts.
Earlier this week, OSU's FlatTail Festival was canceled, with university officials citing “unforeseen circumstances." Estevan said the event would have been in close physical proximity to the encampment.
What's Next?
Estevan said this deadline has left some members of the encampment confused, as the university's intended methods of enforcement aren't clear.
“Students are just asking for clarification of what it is that’s being done, because they want to know what it is that they're risking," she said.
KLCC asked the university about the potential for a police response. In an emailed statement, OSU spokesperson Rob Odom reiterated that the university may utilize its student conduct code or criminal statutes, and referred to its previous statements on the encampment.
Estevan said protestors haven’t yet disclosed whether they plan to leave before the deadline.
