BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – After 10 days of a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Vermont, students say most of the tents are coming down Wednesday.
Students taking part in the protest tell WCAX that it was a collective decision to take down the encampment because of the end of the school year.
At one point over the weekend, students involved in the encampment said there were upwards of 91 tents. Now that number has dropped into the single digits within the last 24 hours. The decision comes after a major protest downtown on Tuesday night showing support for the encampment.
The students say one major win for the group has been the cancellation of commencement speaker U.N. Ambassador Linda Thomas Greenfield.
Disciplinary hearings for some UVM students were expected to begin Wednesday for violating UVM campus policies.
UVM’s graduation is set for the weekend of May 18. Administration officials have not announced yet what that will look like.
Meanwhile, police used pepper spray Wednesday to clear a pro-Palestinian tent encampment at George Washington University. Police have so far arrested more than 2,000 people at college campuses across the U.S.