Pro-Palestinian protesters barricaded themselves early Wednesday in the office of the president of Stanford University, and demanded that administrators meet several demands, including a vote by the university trustees on whether to divest from companies that are said to support Israel’s military.
Around 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, the protesters entered Building 10, which houses the offices of the university’s president, Richard Saller, and provost, Jenny Martinez, according to a campus spokeswoman and a dispatcher for the Stanford University Department of Public Safety. University police officers arrived at the scene after they were alerted of the occupation.
The spokeswoman, Dee Mostofi, said the police were “assessing the situation” and that no other campus operations had been affected by the occupation.
Wednesday is the final day of classes for the spring semester at Stanford. Pro-Palestinian protesters established an encampment on the campus in late April.
The group of protesters, which calls itself the People’s University for Palestine encampment, said in a statement that its members would remain in Building 10 until the university meets several demands. The group called on the Stanford Board of Trustees to consider next week whether to divest from companies — including Hewlett-Packard, Lockheed Martin and Chevron — that the protesters say provide material and logistical support to the Israeli military campaign in Gaza.
The protesters have also demanded that Dr. Saller support the divestment proposal, disclose all of the holdings in Stanford’s endowment and drop all disciplinary measures against Pro-Palestinian student activists.
