This is a list of pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses in the United States in 2024 since protests escalated on April 17, beginning with the Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Columbia University. Student protests, including encampments, occupations, walkouts or sit-ins, have occurred in 45 out of 50 states and the District of Columbia, occurred on almost 140 U.S. campuses as of May 6, part of an international protest movement in over 25 countries. In the three weeks following April 17, over 2,950 people were arrested in relation to Gaza solidarity protests at universities in the US, including students as well as community members and alumni.
Demonstrations initially spread in the United States on April 22, when students at several universities on the East Coast—including New York University, Yale University, Emerson College, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Tufts University—began occupying campuses, as well as experiencing mass arrests in New York and at Yale. Protests emerged throughout the U.S. in the following days, with protest camps established on over 40 campuses. On April 25, mass arrests occurred at Emerson College, the University of Southern California, and the University of Texas at Austin.
A continued crackdown on April 27 led to approximately 275 arrests at Washington, Northeastern, Arizona State, and Indiana University Bloomington. Several professors were among those detained at Emory University, and at Washington University in St. Louis, university employees were arrested. On April 28, counter-protests were held at MIT, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). On April 30, approximately 300 protesters were arrested at Columbia University and City College of New York; and pro-Israel counter-protesters attacked the UCLA campus occupation. The following day over 200 arrests were made at UCLA.
Hundreds of arrests ensued in May, notably at the Art Institute of Chicago, University of California, San Diego, the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, and University of California, Irvine. On May 20, the first strike by academic workers took place on campuses in California at UC Santa Cruz, followed by UC Davis and UCLA on May 28.
Background
By May 6, 2024, student protests had occurred in 45 of the 50 states in the United States and the District of Columbia, with encampments, occupations, walkouts or sit-ins on almost 140 campuses. Thirty-four encampments were established in the United Kingdom; across universities in Australia, beginning with the University of Sydney; and in Canada, including an encampment at McGill University. On May 7, protests spread further on European campuses after mass arrests at the University of Amsterdam campus occupation, including occupation of campus buildings at Leipzig University in Germany, Sciences Po in France, and Ghent University in Belgium. By May 8, protests had taken place in more than 25 countries, and on May 13, approximately 1,000 Dutch students and university staff took part in a national walk-out.
Alabama
The pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Alabama took place on May 1 from 4 to 6:30pm at the UA Student Center. Hundreds of protesters showed up on the pro-Palestinian side, with around a hundred of so counter-protesters holding Israeli and American flags. The demands of the pro-Palestinian protesters was to cut ties with Lockheed Martin, the renaming of Hewson Hall, named after former Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson, and the disclosure of investments from UA's endowment fund. The Lockheed Martin website deleted the mention of UA as a partner university before the protest; one of the several demands published by the protest's organizers.
The protest ended peacefully at 6:30, and there were no injuries.
On October 6, a counter-protester at Auburn University assaulted a pro-Palestinian protester shortly following a protest.
Arizona
On April 26, dozens gathered to protest on the Old Main lawn at Arizona State University in Tempe. Campus police announced several people were arrested "for setting up unauthorized encampment, in violation of university policy and the ABOR Student Code of Conduct." On April 27, the Arizona State University Police Department arrested 69 protesters after the unauthorised encampment was established on campus.
On April 25, a protest was held at the University of Arizona in Tucson. An encampment was set up on April 29.
On April 30, an encampment was set up at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. Within the same night, the university and Flagstaff Police Departments made 24 arrests and deconstructed the site.
On May 9, police fired tear gas at demonstrators at the University of Arizona, a day in advance of their scheduled commencement ceremony.
Arkansas
On April 25, members of the University of Arkansas Students for Justice in Palestine organization delivered a letter to the school's administration, calling for action in response to the war.
A protest was held in Conway, Arkansas on May 1. Around 50-60 people gathered at Hendrix College before marching to Conway City Hall.
California
This is a list of pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses in California in 2024 since protests escalated at the Columbia University campus occupation on April 17. Campus protests initially spread the following week to Cal Poly Humboldt, UC Berkeley, and USC. On April 25, encampments and protests spread further to multiple universities; UCLA. UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, Stanford, and at Sonoma State the following day. On April 29, encampments were set up at San Francisco State, Sacramento State, UC Riverside, and Occidental College; and at UC San Diego and at the University of San Francisco on April 30.
In May, United Auto Workers local labor union authorized a stand-up strike against the University of California (UC) system alleging unsafe labor practices and violations of civil rights against the workers it represents. The first strike began on May 20 at UC Santa Cruz and expanded to other campuses weekly until a judge issued a restraining order on June 7.
In August, just before the opening of the fall semester, Cal State, UC and other universities instituted broad new policies banning encampments, barricades and overnight demonstrations in response to the events.
Colorado
On April 22, a Colorado State University event with Senator Michael Bennet and former Senator Cory Gardner, moderated by university president Amy Parsons, was interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters.
Protesters from the University of Colorado Denver, Community College of Denver, and Metropolitan State University set up an encampment at the Tivoli Quad on the shared Auraria Campus. Police detained several protesters.
Protests were also held at other colleges in Colorado. On April 29, rallies were held at Colorado State University and the University of Northern Colorado. On April 30, protests were held at the University of Denver and Colorado State University Pueblo. On May 1, a die-in was held at the University of Colorado Boulder and a walk-out was held at Colorado College.
An encampment was set up at Colorado College on May 2.
On May 9, an encampment was set up at the University of Denver. On May 10, a protest was held at Colorado Mesa University.
On May 15, police issued citations for trespassing, interference and disturbing the peace to 22 protesters who refused to leave buildings at Auraria. On May 17, campus officials announced that all buildings would be locked at 6pm on Friday. Protesters scattered their tents across campus, saying: “This whole campus is now an encampment.”
Connecticut
On April 12, at Yale University, ahead of the university's Bulldog Days, when admitted freshmen would be visiting, a group of graduate students conducted a hunger strike to call attention to the university's investment in weapons manufacturers profiting off of the war in Gaza. On April 15, a separate group of student protesters, under the name "Occupy Beinecke", unsuccessfully attempted to erect a bookshelf reading "Books, Not Bombs" on Beinecke Plaza and maintained a daytime occupation of the plaza for the rest of the week. On April 19, during a send-off dinner for university president Peter Salovey in the abutting Schwarzman Center, Occupy Beinecke launched a three-day tent encampment on the plaza until April 22 when police arrested 48 protesters on charges of trespassing. Yale administrators claimed that arrests were because students failed to leave after a warning that the protest posed "a safety violation". A letter signed by 300 Yale faculty stated the decision to charge the students "contradicts the institution's commitment to uphold free assembly, speech and expression". On April 28, more than 1,000 pro-Palestinian protesters organized a "March for a Free Palestine" from the New Haven Green through Yale's campus. That same day, another group of protesters erected a second, short-lived encampment on Cross Campus that was cleared by police with no arrests on April 30.
On April 25, an encampment was launched at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. One person was arrested. Five days later, university police arrested multiple people and dismantled the encampment.
On April 28, another encampment was set up at Wesleyan University in Middletown. On April 29, about 100 people were at the encampment, called a "Liberation Zone." University President Michael S. Roth said that he would not call in the police as long as the protest remained nonviolent.
On May 1, an encampment was set up at Trinity College in Hartford.
A protest was held at Central Connecticut State University on April 17. On May 7, a protest rally was held at Connecticut College.
District of Columbia
A walkout occurred at American University in Washington, D.C. on April 23, 2024. On April 25, students from Georgetown University and George Washington University established a joint encampment in response to the International Court of Justice's ruling that Israel has violated the Genocide Convention. At 5:30 am, about 70 students set up 25 tents at University Yard. The campus police arrived at 6 am and informed them that they were only allowed to be on campus between 7 am and 7 pm. Around noon, 200 students took part in a rally. At 1 pm, 150 more marchers arrived at the encampment. At 2:30 pm, counter-protesters arrived. Protesters were joined by Howard University, George Mason University, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and Gallaudet University students. The Washington Post reported that the Metropolitan Police Department rejected an April 26 request from GWU officials to clear the site. By April 28, the encampment had spread past the barricaded University Yard into the surrounding streets. On May 8, police, using pepper spray, cleared the encampment at George Washington University, arresting 33 people.
Protesters at Howard University held a sit-in on October 7, 2024.
Florida
On April 24, a protest organized by the "UF Divestment Coalition" took place at the Plaza of the Americas at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Nine people were arrested at another protest on April 29.
A protest was held at the University of Central Florida in Orlando on April 26. An encampment was set up on May 6.
A planned encampment on Landis Green at Florida State University in Tallahassee lasted only a few minutes on April 25 before being disbanded by university police and the use of sprinklers by school administration. On April 30 police arrested five protesters at another encampment on the FSU campus.
A protest was held at Florida Gulf Coast University on April 26.
Three people were arrested at a protest and encampment at the University of South Florida in Tampa on April 29. The following day, 10 people were arrested following a physical altercation between police and protesters. Police officers used tear gas on protesters.
An encampment organized by Students for a Democratic Society was set up at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville on April 30. Late on May 2, sixteen demonstrators, including eight students were arrested by University Police and charged with trespassing.
On May 15, a vigil and protest was held at Florida Atlantic University. The same day, a protest was held at Florida International University.
On May 17, protesters at the New College of Florida's graduation ceremony chanted "Free Palestine" and booed the commencement speaker, billionaire Joe Ricketts. The school said it had filed five conduct violation complaints against graduates.
Georgia
Students at the Georgia Institute of Technology held a pro-Palestine rally on April 24. The next day, students at Kennesaw State University participated in a walkout. A second walkout was held on May 1, with around 100 students from the Savannah College of Art and Design's Atlanta campus also participating.
On the morning of April 25, police arrested demonstrators at an encampment at Emory University. Students had established the encampment that morning in solidarity with the people of Gaza as well as in protest of Cop City. Georgia State Patrol, Atlanta Police and University Police began clearing the encampment within three hours of its establishment. Tasers on restrained students and tear gas were used to arrest at least 20 students. Caroline Fohlin, the chair of Emory's philosophy department, was one of the arrested. A video of police using a taser on a restrained protester at Emory went viral, but vice president of public safety Cheryl Elliott said the person did not appear to be associated with Emory. Elliot also sent an email to the Emory community saying that "chemical irritants" were necessary for crowd control due to direct assaults of officers. On 27 April, faculty placed themselves between police and students, leading Representative Ruwa Romman to say, "it never should've been necessary".
On April 29, police arrested 16 people at an encampment at the University of Georgia.
On May 1, a protest was held at Mercer University. The next day, protests were held at Georgia Southern University's main campus in Statesboro and the Armstrong Campus in Savannah. A protest was held at Georgia State University on May 3.