“I am pleased to share that we have reached an agreement that will result in the peaceful conclusion of the encampment by no later than midnight tonight,” Wilcox said in the May 3 letter addressed to the campus community.

Wilcox released a copy of what he called the “full agreement,” and said it would be carried out consistent with state and federal law.

Student protesters at UCR established a campus encampment Monday to speak out against Israel’s actions in Gaza. The students called for the school to end “all investments and endowments” benefiting the Jewish state.

“We are not leaving this encampment day and night until the university complies and meets with us to discuss our demands,” a spokesperson for Students for Justice in Palestine, UCR chapter, told City News Service.

According to the terms of Friday’s agreement, UCR will post to its website all of the UC’s investments and portfolios. A task force that includes students will also be formed to explore separating UCR’s endowment from the UC Investments Office management.

UCR endowments/investments will be reviewed by the task force with an eye toward divesting companies that pose an ethical conflict for the university, such as those dealing in arms manufacturing and delivering, according to the agreement.

The agreement also states that UCR’s School of Business has discontinued global programs in Israel, among other countries, and the university will modify its study-abroad approval process to ensure it’s non-discriminatory.

The agreement also calls for an ongoing review of Sabra hummus, “consistent with existing product review processes … .”

In 2015, UCR stopped selling the Sabra hummus brand in the school’s dining areas due to objections from the on-campus group Students for Justice in Palestine, which has led the current UCR campus protests. Sabra is partially owned by an Israeli company.

UCR quickly reversed course, however, calling the hummus recall a “mistake.”

In addition to Wilcox and other campus officials, Friday’s agreement is signed by Students for Justice in Palestine President Hibah Nassar and lead negotiator Samia Alkam.

Wilcox acknowledged the agreement “does not change the realities of the war in Gaza, or the need to address antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of bias and discrimination,” but said he was “grateful” for the “constructive and peaceful conversations” on how to address the complex issues.

UCR values students’ right to practice peaceful free speech, Wilcox said, adding, “these meetings have been productive, civil, and representative of multiple points of view on how to reach a resolution.”

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The encampment began on April 29 as protestors occupied the area beside Bell Tower. The movement was led by the university’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.

Protestors demanded the university disclose its investments and funding and that it should divest from companies and institutions that are “complicit in the Israeli occupation, apartheid, and genocide” of Palestinians.

There were also calls for UCR to sever ties with Israeli universities, including student exchange programs, according to the Press-Enterprise.

A negotiation meeting took place on May 1 and a planned rally later that day drew several hundred participants to the campus.

On Friday, campus leaders and demonstrators successfully reached an agreement to end the encampment no later than Friday, May 3, by midnight, according to UCR officials.

“I am pleased to share that we have reached an agreement that will result in the peaceful conclusion of the encampment,” said UCR Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox. “It has been my goal to resolve this matter peacefully and I am encouraged by this outcome – which was generated through constructive dialogue.”

As part of the agreement, university officials settled on these terms:

• All currently public information on UC’s investments will be posted to the UCR campus website. It will continue to be updated as the UC releases more information. The goal is to get full disclosure of the list of companies in the portfolio and the size of the investments.
• The UCR Administration agrees to form a task force that includes students appointed by ASUCR’s Diversity Council and faculty appointed by the Academic Senate to explore the removal of UCR’s endowment from the management of the UC Investments Office, and the investment of said endowment in a manner that will be financially and ethically sound for the university with consideration to the companies involved in arms manufacturing and delivery.
• The goal of this task force is to produce a report to present to the UCR Foundation Board of Trustees by the end of Winter Quarter 2025. The task force will be formed by the end of the Spring 2024 quarter.
• Commitment to bimonthly meetings with the AVC of Auxiliary Services and an ongoing review of Sabra Hummus consistent with existing product review processes until we can find a resolution.
• The School of Business has discontinued Global Programs in Oxford, USA, Cuba, Vietnam, Brazil, China, Egypt, Jordan, and Israel.
• UCR will modify its approval process for all study abroad programs to ensure compliance with UC’s Anti-Discriminatory Policies.

The encampment at UC Riverside is one of many pro-Palestinian demonstrations taking place on college campuses across the country in response to the Israel-Hamas War that began on Oct. 7, 2023.

In Southern California, protests and rallies took place at USC, UCLA, UC Irvine, UC Berkeley, Cal State Long Beach, Pitzer College in Claremont and UC San Diego.

Most campus demonstrations remained peaceful despite violence breaking out at UCLA on April 30 when dozens of pro-Israeli protestors, many wearing white masks, swarmed the campus and attempted to dismantle the pro-Palestinian encampment that overtook Royce Quad since April 25.

The agitators threw fireworks at the encampment and attacked demonstrators with bear or pepper spray. Many people were seen punching and fist-fighting on the lawn during the late-night ambush.

The next day, a large police presence surrounded UCLA and declared the encampment an unlawful assembly. Officers worked overnight to eventually clear the massive encampment. Around 210 people were arrested or detained and hundreds more left the campus voluntarily.

Removal of the tents at the UC Riverside encampment have begun and will be cleared by Friday at midnight.

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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — California’s representatives serving in the U.S House appear nearly united in response to the wave of protests at U.S. college campuses — including in Riverside County — that have erupted amid Israel’s actions in Gaza.

In a bipartisan move Wednesday, Riverside County’s Congressional members, along with their colleagues in California and across the nation, passed H.R. 6090, otherwise known as the Antisemitism Awareness Act.

Advocates say the legislation would empower the federal government to crack down on current campus protests by creating “a clear definition of antisemitism” that encompasses threats against Jewish people and certain criticisms of Israel. If it becomes law, the Education Department could use it to cut off funding to colleges that, for example, allow protests like those happening today.

First Amendment advocates, however, say the legislation is dangerous in that it would undo longstanding rights.

In a released statement Thursday, the American Civil Liberties Union said H.R. 6090 “threatens to censor political speech critical of Israel on college campuses under the guise of addressing antisemitism.”

Christopher Anders, director of ACLU’s Democracy and Technology Policy Division, said, “Addressing rising antisemitism is critically important, but sacrificing American’s free speech rights is not the way to solve that problem. This bill would throw the full weight of the federal government behind an effort to stifle criticism of Israel and risks politicizing the enforcement of federal civil rights statutes precisely when their robust protections are most needed. The Senate must block this bill that undermines First Amendment protections before it’s too late.”

California has 52 House seats, with one vacancy. During Wednesday’s vote, 27 Golden State Democrats and 11 Republicans voted in favor of H.R. 6090. Eleven California Democrats cast no votes and two did not weigh in. With the exception of Mark Takano (D-39), all Riverside County representatives were in favor. Nationally, the bill was approved by a vote of 320-91, with a majority of Democrats — 133 — joining Republicans.

Congressman Darrell Issa (R-48) represents a large swath of Southwest Riverside County, as well as central and eastern parts of San Diego County. He released a statement following his yes vote. It read, in part, ” … after witnessing for more than six months a widespread and growing tide of antisemitism in America — much of it centered on the campuses of our colleges and universities – a bipartisan supermajority of the Congress took appropriate action.”

Republican Congressman Ken Calvert represents District 41, which stretches from Lake Elsinore to part of the Coachella Valley. After his yes vote, he posted a statement on X.

“I just joined a bipartisan majority of the House of Representatives in passing the Antisemitism Awareness Act on the first day of Jewish American Heritage Month. This bill reinforces Civil Rights Act protections for Jewish students who are subjected to antisemitism,” he wrote.

But in nearby San Diego, Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-51), who is Jewish, cast a no vote. In a released statement, she expressed deep concern about rising antisemitism but said H.R. 6090 is not the answer:

It’s unclear what the prospects are for the Antisemitism Awareness Act in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

As Washington debates the legislation, campus protests continue in California. Students at UC Riverside established a campus encampment Monday to protest Israel’s actions in Gaza. The students are calling for the school to end “all investments and endowments” benefiting the Jewish state.

“We are joining the student movement, the student Intifada,” a spokesperson for Students for Justice in Palestine, UCR chapter, told City News Service. “We are not leaving this encampment day and night until the university complies and meets with us to discuss our demands.”

There have been no reports of violence at UCR amid the protest, unlike others in the Golden State. A nine-hour standoff came to a tense and chaotic end at UCLA when police in riot gear breached and dismantled a pro-Palestine encampment at the school early Thursday, terminating a weeklong protest and taking over 100 into custody.

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