Arcata, CA – Students at Cal Poly Humboldt are speaking out after a series of protests led to a sweeping crackdown by the university administration.

The protests began on February 20 when students held a sit-in demanding that the university divest from Israel and investments connected to war, adopt a real sanctuary campus policy protecting immigrant students from ICE, and publicly support striking Teamsters workers across the California State University system. The action forced administrators to agree to hold a public forum where students could present their demands.

In the days leading up to the February 27 forum, however, the administration attempted to undermine the agreement. Administrators rebranded the forum as a “listening session,” shifting the focus away from responding to demands and toward presenting the university’s own narrative. The administration also attempted to move the event away from the highly visible SAC Quad to a more secluded indoor location to avoid public accountability.

At the forum itself, Associate Vice President Mike Fisher served as the administration’s primary representative. Students presented their demands and pressed the administration for clear commitments, but Fisher failed to address the demands or even take them seriously. Instead, he gave a series of carefully crafted non-answers that only infuriated the students who had come to negotiate.

“When students speak about genocide, immigrant repression, and the exploitation of workers, the administration responds with excuses and empty talking points,” said Students for a Democratic Society Humboldt member Ryan Littleton.

After the admin ended the forum early, students marched to the Main Quad and began another sit-in. The protest then moved into Nelson Hall, where students conducted sit-in inside Goodwin Forum.

The administrators escalated the situation immediately. Shortly after the sit-in began, bathrooms throughout the building were locked, forcing students to use buckets. Administrators initially denied responsibility, claiming the bathrooms lock automatically, even though students observed staff locking them minutes after the sit-in began. Administrators also physically intervened to prevent food and water from reaching students inside the building and manhandled students in the process.

Late that night, after protesters had remained inside Nelson Hall for hours, the university called in the Arcata Police Department. Officers visibly equipped with pepper ball launchers surrounded the building and issued threats over loudspeakers demanding that protesters leave or face arrest and the use of force that “could likely result in serious injury.” Power to the building was cut before protesters ultimately escaped together, avoiding arrests.

After the protest, the university launched a campaign of retaliation against students. The administration has now brought private security contractors onto campus who have been harassing students, racially profiling them, and attempting to identify participants in the protest.

Several students have been issued conduct charges and placed on interim suspension, and so far, they are all students who were not even participating in the sit-in but were simply outside the building. The suspensions have had immediate consequences. Some students have reportedly lost campus jobs and have been banned from attending classes or entering campus spaces.

One of the students targeted is SDS Humboldt organizer Rick Toledo, who has been charged with “assault.” The charge stems from Toledo placing himself between an administrator and students who were attempting to bring food and water to protesters inside Nelson Hall. Toledo stood with his back turned and arms outstretched and did not physically touch anyone.

“The administration has ignored serious cases of assault on this campus before, especially involving athletics,” Toledo said. “But when a student stands up to ensure food and water can reach fellow students, suddenly they invent an assault charge for political purposes.”

Students also criticized the university’s spending priorities. Rick says SDS Humboldt has pushed the administration for years to fund accessibility improvements on campus, and they have repeatedly been told that there is no money available.

“But the moment students protested, they suddenly had money to hire private security goons to harass students,” Toledo said.

SDS Humboldt is demanding that Cal Poly Humboldt immediately drop the charges against Rick Toledo and the other students facing discipline and lift all interim suspensions.

“Interim suspension is supposed to be used only when someone poses an immediate threat to the safety of others,” Rick Toledo. “Using it against protesters is a disgusting abuse of power.”

SDS Humboldt says the struggle is far from over.

“Any student with a conscience should oppose the genocide of Palestinians and the violence of ICE,” said a student organizer.. “We took action because Palestinians have nowhere safe to go while our government funds their destruction. The administration can threaten us, suspend us, and try to silence us—but we will continue organizing until justice is won.”

#ArcataCA #CA #StudentMovement #SDS

Fight Back! recently interviewed Fern McBride and Rick Toledo. Both are pro-Palestine activists and SDS members that played important roles in supporting the occupation and the historic resistance at Cal Poly Humboldt, in Arcata, California. What started as sit-on on April 22 escalated into outrageous repression that was, however, met with determined resistance. On May 28, some of the activists had their first court appearance.

Fight Back!: Could you say a few words about how the occupation at Cal Poly Humboldt came about?

Rick Toledo: Due to the excessive violence and genocide committed by Israel against Palestinians, the students at Cal Poly Humboldt decided that they needed to take action. After seeing many encampments spreading all over the nation an emergency meeting was called to plan an action of our own. People from multiple organizations and unaffiliated students gathered to come up with a plan. During the meeting it was decided that a sit-in within the administration building would be the best course of action, and this was the original plan.

However, once the administration reacted to the peaceful sit-in with excessive police violence, the action changed. Protesters worked to defend each other and prevent the police from ending the sit-in while the greater community gathered in support and encircled the police.

The faculty, along with the California Faculty Association, fought for us behind the scenes and helped urge admin to call off the police. After the initial fight many students experienced police brutality and the action became more militant in response to this.

Fern McBride: Students at Cal Poly Humboldt felt it necessary to escalate by standing in solidarity with Palestinians, creating visibility in our community and demanding our university disclose and divest any financial or educational ties with the Zionist government of Israel.

To accomplish this, a group of students organized a sit-in of the university’s main administrative building, Siemens Hall, a form of protest historically allowed and supported by the school.

In response to the peaceful sit-in, where students sang songs, played games, created art, and hoped to host a Passover celebration, the university evacuated the building and created an atmosphere of fear by calling in the police. When the police arrived, they attempted to push their way into the building and became violent with protesters. To protect themselves, protesters began erecting barriers with whatever they could find inside and outside the building.

After police left, students, faculty and community members rallied around those inside Siemens Hall and established an encampment outside to support those students and protect them from further police violence.

Fight Back!: What were some of the big events that took place during the occupation?

McBride: The week-long occupation was full of fun and love despite the hostility from the university administration. The encampment hosted a teach-in with faculty lecturers, multiple concerts, a Seder celebration, and other small events. Protesters were encouraged to engage the community with opportunities to learn, share space, create art, and have constructive dialogue. By responding with violence and militarized police, the administration squandered an immense learning opportunity for their students. Instead, student protesters took it upon themselves, with the support of sympathetic community members and faculty, to create a space which encouraged creativity, relationship building, and hands on learning.

Toledo: Even though there was a militant defensive response in the form erecting barricades, creating security teams, and look-outs, overall, the attitude on the ground was full of love and respect. There was a strong sense of community and free food, medical help, and other services were provided to all students and community members that stopped by. Teach-ins were hosted to help educate people on what is happening in Palestine, with U.S. imperialism globally, and more. Faculty stopped in and joined in on many occasions. Many students reported feeling safer within the occupation than they had in our normal society. This all speaks to the kind-hearted and empathetic nature of the protesters. This action was initiated out of a deep love for our fellow people and in solidarity with Palestinians, and all oppressed peoples.

Fight Back!: Could you say something about the repression that is taking place against students and community members who participated?

McBride: The repression of speech and free expression by Cal Poly Humboldt, the CSU system, and the police has been dumbfounding. Punishing students and community members with severe academic and legal repercussions for actions which resulted from escalation on the part of school administrators is hypocrisy at its finest. Students should be encouraged to speak their minds, radically express themselves, and act as a catalyst for change.

The fact that others and I have had our futures threatened over our willingness to speak out against the genocide of Palestinians shows exactly where our universities and institutions of power stand on this issue. It is cleat that the powers that be are willing to weaponize any means at their disposal, including violence, to silence, suppress, and traumatize those who appose the United States’ war profiteering and their support for the Zionist government of Israel.

Toledo: The administration suspended students without any evidence or warning, and many lost their jobs as a result. SDS has been providing financial assistance to these students who would otherwise be housing insecure at this time. We are doing everything we can to provide as much support as possible and combat the harm inflicted by the administration.

The administration also put out false narratives where they called the protesters criminals and painted a bleak picture of the occupation. They emphasized property damage over human lives and made up extravagant numbers in damages that do not match the reality of the situation at all. They had an army of police occupy and lock down our campus; students felt unsafe just going to the dining halls because they were full of armed officers.

Students who were simply leaving their dorms were arrested by police, even if they were not associated with the occupation at all. One journalist from ABC 23 was even detained by them for simply doing her job. The administration has also recently sent out a vague email warning of “heightened security on campus.” We are still not sure what this entails and, while they claim that it has nothing to do with the occupation, we would argue that the timing clearly contradicts this claim.

Finally, we know that as of May 28, the charges were sent by campus police to District Attorney Stacey Eads. Rather than revoking the suspensions and charges they have chosen to persecute these students for standing against genocide, history will not forget, nor forgive these injustices.

Fight Back!: What is being done to push back against the repression?

Toledo: Legal teams have been organized to deal with the suspensions and the arrests. Palestine Legal has been leading the charge with the suspended students and pushing back against the administration and their claims. Attorney Rachel Lederman is leading a team out of San Fransisco that is defending the arrestees and both legal teams are collaborating with one another.

Meanwhile, SDS and Humboldt for Palestine have been providing supportive care. SDS has provided financial assistance and organized supportive campaigns to help fight for the protesters. We have worked closely with Humboldt for Palestine and other organizations like the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and the National Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression to launch a national call/email/petition campaign to urge the district attorney to drop the charges. SDS and Humboldt for Palestine held a supportive rally during the arraignment to show the DA that the community is not going to let them charge these innocent students, community members and faculty.

McBride: Students and community members continue to organize against the repression we are facing, but most importantly we continue creating visibility for Palestine. A ‘Free Palestine Graduation’ outside our county courthouse was hosted during graduation weekend, in which each graduate dedicated their degree to a child martyr. Protests continue to be held within the community, events are being organized to decompress and speak about what happened during the occupation, and groups of protesters continue to advocate for a ceasefire and divestment in their own ways.

The administration thought that by raiding our encampment they could weaken and scare us, but they have only made us stronger and more impassioned. This same trend can be seen across the country and the world at hundreds of student encampments. Every time they try to push us down, we rise up even higher and we will continue to do so until Palestine is free from the violence and oppression of Israeli occupation.

Fight Back!: How can the student movement assist the struggle to end Israeli apartheid?

Toledo: The student movement can continue educate, agitate, and organize for Palestine. Building broader coalition and more united actions across the country will help us to put more strain on those in power and to successfully get our campuses to disclose ties with and divest from Israel. It’s up to us to continue to educate people on the truths of the settler-colonial government known as “Israel” and on the injustices that Palestinians have faced since the Nakba.

Many of our universities have deals with Israel and some even have military contracts with them through corporations like Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. However, for us to truly succeed in our goals it is imperative that we not only organize on our campuses but that we organize with the greater community as well and continue to struggle against these injustices both on and off campus.

This is the greatest genocide that we have seen since the holocaust, we must continue to escalate for Gaza, Rafah, and all of the Palestinian people, none of us are free, until Palestine is free!

McBride: People have criticized the occupation at Cal Poly Humboldt, saying that due to the small size of our isolated school we can make no impact, but that cannot be farther from the truth. We have heard from student organizers at much larger universities that our actions and resilience have inspired them to escalate further for Palestine. We have even received pictures of children in Gaza thanking Cal Poly Humboldt for our solidarity.

We are a very tiny piece of this resistance movement, and the real resistance is coming from the people of Palestine who face the horrors of genocide every day, so the least we can do it stand with them and leverage our privilege in any way possible.

A few years ago, I would have never imagined the UN International Court would be attempting to issue warrants for the arrest of top Israeli officials, but that has become a reality. This is partially due to the pressure being applied to systems of power at campuses across the globe. We are only a small part of the mosaic of resistance to free Palestine, but every small piece is important, and I can’t imagine not being a part of it.

Fern McBride and Rick Toledo are members of Students for Democratic Society (SDS) at Cal Poly Humboldt.

#ArcataCA #CA #AntiWarMovement #International #MiddleEast #Palestine #StudentMovement #SDS #CalPolyHumboldt #Occupy4Gaza #Feature

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from SDS Humboldt and Occupy Cal Poly Humboldt

On April 27th, 2024, Cal Poly Humboldt students, with the mediation of faculty, have reached out to administration in hopes of reengaging negotiations. Students have collectively decided they will vacate Siemens Hall if their demands are agreed to. These are as follows:

1. Deescalate: no police presence and no academic consequences

2. Divest: audit of financials and no more investment in Israel

3. Declare: Ceasefire statement from CPH encourage CSU system to do the same

It is confirmed that this offer is in the administration’s hands. We are eagerly awaiting their response. Students remain committed to a peaceful demonstration and negotiation process. We call on our community to share this message widely and, if possible, come to campus to bear witness of our demonstration and police response.

Signed,

SDS Humboldt and Occupy Cal Poly Humboldt

#ArcataCA #CA #AntiWarMovement #International #MiddleEast #Palestine #StudentMovement #SDS #CalPolyHumboldt #Occupy4Gaza

Arcata, CA – On Monday, April 22, around 4 p.m., roughly 30 students began a sit-in in Siemens Hall at Cal Poly Humboldt, California, to show solidarity with Palestine and with other campuses that are doing the same. While many students on other campuses are setting up encampments, theirs is the first in the movement to take over a building so far, and an admin building, no less. This also made them the first state university to join the movement.

At the start, protesters were demonstrating inside the building, sitting together, and chanting. Police soon arrived, they attempted to drag the students out and destroy the barrier that they had set up using chairs inside the building.

At the peak of the protest, students inside reinforced their barricade – while outside student activist Jasmine Jolly led chants to keep people united. She chanted on the megaphone, “Link your arms, hold the line, protect your families,” and could be heard throughout the quad as protesters followed suit. There is no doubt that the actions of activists like herself helped to rally the crowd and defend the occupiers inside of the building.

When asked about the protest, Jolly stated, “I am a part of this protest because I dream of a free Palestine and an end to the unjust Israeli occupation. I hope that this message of hope and resilience gets out to other students across the nation. I hope that it shows that we, the young people, are changemakers, and revolutionaries; that we are some of the most compassionate and capable people in the world. Fixing the mess that was left by our predecessors means building an equitable future that is actually by and for the people. I am here because we will see a free Palestine in my lifetime.”

Within the building the occupiers linked arms and barricaded the door. They worked together to ensure that the police would not defeat them and put an early end to their powerful movement. Building occupier Olivia Fox (who goes formally by Fox), a member of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) stated, “Solidarity with our family in occupied Palestine requires us to resist the normalization of mass suffering, genocide and ecocide at the hands of a globalized colonial project, which is currently manifesting itself as the United States/Israel. The distinction between these two is illusory. To stand in solidarity with Palestine requires us to recognize the struggle of all colonized people suffering globally from state violence, displacement and ethnic cleansing. The pattern of colonization is distinct and has manifested itself in the destruction of human life on Earth.”

Police brutally assaulted multiple students, throwing one out of a truck onto the concrete, and bashing a protester's head so hard that it bled. More students arrived to help and together we were able to hold the line and prevent any more arrests or attacks by police. Faculty and CFA also arrived on the scene to demand that the police be called off by the campus administration. Around 11:30 p.m. the police finally went home, and campus was shut down for the foreseeable future. Protesters had won the first round. Students are still occupying the building at the time of the writing of this article and still refuse to leave until their demands are met.

SDS Humboldt member, Rick Toledo, was acting as a legal observer for the event. He was directly in front of the building recording police activity, badge numbers, and their attacks on the innocent students. When asked about the protest, he stated, “The violence, abuses, and crimes that the police committed at the protest mirror the same kind of violence that the Israeli Occupation Force has been using against the indigenous Palestinian people. The students that rose up to the occasion, and challenged business as usual, to stand with the Palestinians are heroic and some of the bravest people that I know. The response of the administration and the police demonstrates utter cowardice and a complete disconnect from what this university is supposed to stand for. No more student repression, no more investing in genocide, no more pretending to be inclusive while stabbing BIPOC in the back – it’s time for a change, and its time for the admin to finally listen to the students for once.”

The students are now calling their collective movement “Occupy Cal Poly Humboldt” and have set up an official Instagram for it. All students involved have taken a major step towards a free Palestine and a more equitable university. The sit-in is ongoing and in order for students to leave the building they are requesting that the campus administration at least meet some of their demands and begin negotiations with them. Until then, they plan to remain indefinitely. In the meantime, the students have invited more protesters to join in and students, community members, and faculty have all pitched in to provide resources and support to this ongoing show of student power and solidarity.

Their current five demands are as follows: First, the full divestment of the university from anything profiting off of or associated with Israel, including weapons manufacturers, exploitation of the West Bank as well as any firms that invest in those activities; second, they want the university to boycott all Israeli academic institutions and sever any academic ties with them; third, to publicly call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza; fourth, to give assurances that there will be no charges, either criminal charges or disciplinary action taken against any protesters; and fifth, to either amend or remove the time, manner or place clause which allows them to call the police on students for organizing in ways that they deem inappropriate.

#ArcataCA #CA #StudentMovement #SDS #AntiWarMovement #International #Palestine #Columbia #Encampment #Occupy #Feature