BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Some college students in Vermont are joining their peers across the country in protest. Students at the University of Vermont and Middlebury College have set up encampments to protest the schools’ ties to Israel. And they have a list of demands for administrators.
Some UVM students spent the night in tents.
Monday morning was a relatively calm scene with students outside the school’s Davis Center. Students were working on their laptops, painting protest signs and bringing in more tents and supplies.
The tents are to demonstrate solidarity with Gaza, mirroring other college campuses across the nation where protests have been underway for days.
Students at the protest at the campus in Burlington declined to speak with us on camera Monday morning. They designated one person who introduced himself as James as their spokesperson. He did not want his face to appear on camera, but he outlined the protesters’ demands for the university. He said they want UVM to:
- Disclose all financial investments from the school’s $800 million endowment.
- Divest from Israeli companies and those involved in the occupation of Palestine.
- Sever academic ties with Israeli institutions.
- Cancel U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield’s commencement speech and honorary degree.
- Promise that students involved in the protest won’t be charged.
“Students are rising up in decentralized fashion to combat what we see as a humanitarian and moral crisis,” James said.
The protesters at UVM said they will stay as long as it takes for their demands to be met.
Sunday, police said the protesters were violating the school’s temporary structure policy.
Leading up to these demonstrations, WCAX spoke with Jewish students at UVM who say they have experienced antisemitism on campus amid the war overseas.
In a statement, Matt Vogel, the executive director of UVM’s Jewish student organization Hillel, said, in part, that they are “…in ongoing communication with UVM police and administration about the concerns we’ve heard from Jewish students, parents and alumni. Every student, especially in the tense end of this semester, deserves the right to study and life in safety.”
Hillel is setting up flags outside their building in honor of the hostages taken on Oct. 7.
At Middlebury College, students have also issued a list of demands, including divestment, an academic and cultural boycott, and a direct affiliation with Palestinian institutions.