Western Washington University reached a resolution with student-led protesters at the pro-Palestine encampment on Old Main on Wednesday, May 29.
The protesters set up their camp nearly two weeks ago as part of their effort to pressure the university to divest from companies they say are linked to Israeli violence against Palestinians, among other demands.
Neither the school nor the protestors provided details about what steps were taken to meet the students’ demands. Students said they will hold a press conference at 5 p.m. Thursday. Western said it will release details on the agreement on Friday.
A social media post by the WWU Divest Apartheid Coalition called it a “historic agreement” following 10 hours of deliberations.
While the encampment had grown to more than 70 tents at its peak, by 3 p.m. Wednesday, many protesters were packing up and leaving.
“As part of this agreement, students involved with the encampment on Old Main lawn agreed to voluntarily end the encampment and depart by 5 p.m. tomorrow,” WWU President Sabah Randhawa stated in a Wednesday news release.
In addition to demanding the university divest, protestors asked for Western to acknowledge harm and correct wrongs to Arab students in its response to the war in Gaza; full financial disclosure of investments in companies connected to Israel; investment in community by ensuring the launch of the ethnic studies program; and an emergency Board of Trustees meeting to meet the demands.
Protestors and the university independently committed to releasing more details about the agreement in the coming days.
“This is not the end of our movement, we must continue to fight for divestment and Palestinian liberation!” the social media post by WWU Divest Apartheid Coalition stated.
More than 36,000 Palestinians have died in Israel’s attack on Gaza since Oct. 7, when militant group Hamas attacked Israel and killed 1,200 Israelis, according to the Associated Press.
Isaac Stone Simonelli is CDN’s enterprise/investigations reporter; reach him at isaacsimonelli@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 127.
