Why did college protests stop?

Throughout October, which marked one year since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, campuses reacted swiftly to violations of protest rules — known on campuses as time, place and manner policies.

While there have been some rallies and protests, no campus has seen the mass demonstrations, or encampments, that swept across California campuses last spring. That’s when, according to a CalMatters analysis, around 560 people, largely students and faculty, faced discipline or arrests. Some student protesters erected tents and other structures that remained on campus for several days or, in some cases, multiple weeks before universities intervened. In light of legal actions and pressure from lawmakers, campus administrators are tightening enforcement.

“I think students are still definitely riled up and ready to have their voice heard,” said Aditi Hariharan, president of the University of California Student Association. “Whenever they take steps to share their voice, I think the administration takes an opposing step and is trying to push them back.”

Meanwhile, some students and faculty are still facing charges related to last academic year’s demonstrations. And now some who were arrested are suing their campuses. 

New year brings emphasis on enforcing protest policies

While many of today’s protest policies were in place prior to last spring, campus administrators showed discretion in the past over when or whether to respond.

Universities’ varied approaches to dealing with the encampments led state lawmakers and system administrators to seek uniform enforcement of policies governing where and how students can protest. Signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September, SB 1287 requires the University of California and California State University systems to update their policies and create training to educate students on “what constitutes violent, harassing, intimidating, or discriminatory conduct that creates a hostile environment on campus.”

“Even when dealing with divisive issues, all student voices have the right to be heard and none should be silenced,” said now former state Sen. Steve Glazer, an Orinda Democrat, speaking in support of the bill in an Assembly judiciary committee hearing. “I believe this legislation will restore an environment of civil discourse on our campuses.

In response to the new law, the leadership of both the UC and Cal State systems communicated the need for consistent time, place and manner policies for the start of the academic year. Michael Drake, the UC president, wrote a letter to the 10 UC campuses outlining policies on free speech and protests, including a complete ban on camping and erecting encampments, blocking campus facilities, and refusing to identify oneself. The letter largely banned actions already enshrined in laws and campus policies.

At UCLA, university police officers arrested four people Nov. 19 during a protest the campus’ Students for Justice in Palestine organization announced as a “Nationwide Student Strike.” According to acting UCLA Chief of Police Scott Scheffler, the protesters violated time, place and manner policies after they attempted to block access to the campus walkway through Bruin Plaza. This case is still under investigation. 

Scheffler is the second acting chief at UCLA since the former chief John Thomas was reassigned in May, following criticisms of his handling of the spring protests on campus. The UCLA Police Department announced Dec. 10 was Thomas’ last day with the university.

Also at UCLA, one person was arrested Oct. 22 for failing to disperse during a student rally of about 40 people. The campus police department posted on X that the rally violated the school’s protest policies against erecting unauthorized structures on campus. 

At UC Santa Cruz, police arrested one student who was using a megaphone during a demonstration on Oct. 7, according to an eyewitness who spoke to LookOut Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office public arrest reports show one person was arrested on the Santa Cruz campus for obstruction of a public officer and battery without injury that day.

While no arrests were made, Pomona College has suspended 12 students for the remainder of the 2024-25 academic year following an Oct. 7 demonstration in which they entered, damaged and vandalized a restricted building, according to the student newspaper. The college also banned dozens of students from the four other campuses of the Claremont Colleges, a consortium that includes Pomona.

Private colleges have implemented their own policy changes. Pomona College now requires students and faculty to swipe their ID cards to enter academic buildings. Since last semester, students and visitors entering USC are also required to show a school or photo ID.

Some students are still facing charges from last year’s protests

Few charges have been filed after UCLA’s encampment made headlines in April, when counter-protesters led an attack on encampment protesters while law enforcement did not intervene for several hours. The following day, 254 people were arrested on charges related to the protest encampment. In October, two additional people were also arrested for participating in the counter-protester violence.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office is pursuing three felony cases against individuals arrested at UCLA in relation to violence during last spring’s protests.

Meanwhile,  the city attorney’s office is reviewing 93 misdemeanor cases from USC and 210 from UCLA, according to information it provided to CalMatters last month.  

Lilyan Zwirzina, a junior at Cal Poly Humboldt, was among the students arrested in the early morning of April 30 following protesters occupying a campus building and ignoring orders to disperse from the university. Law enforcement took her to Humboldt County Correctional Facility where she faced four misdemeanor charges, including resisting arrest. Zwirzina thought she’d have to cancel her study abroad semester, which conflicted with the court date she was given.

“I was pretty frustrated and kind of freaked out,” Zwirzina said. Authorities dropped the charges against her in July.  

The Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office didn’t pursue charges against 27 of the 39 people arrested, citing insufficient evidence. The 12 remaining cases were referred to the Cal Poly Humboldt Police Department for investigation. Those cases remain under investigation, according to the university. 

For 13 people, including students, arrested at Stanford University in June, the Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen has not pressed charges as of Nov. 20, according to information his office provided CalMatters.

Elsewhere across the state, some district attorneys are pursuing misdemeanor and felony charges against student protesters. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer is pursuing misdemeanor charges against 50 people, including two UCI professors, a teaching assistant, and 26 students, stemming from a protest at UC Irvine on Oct. 22, 2023. Charges include failure to disperse, resisting arrest and vandalism.

At Pomona College, 19 students were arrested April 5 on charges of trespassing after some protesters entered and refused to leave an administrative building. Students arrested either had their cases dismissed or have accepted community service in lieu of further legal action. James Gutierrez, the attorney representing the arrested students, said he asked that the college drop charges against its students, citing their right to protest the use of paid tuition dollars.

“They are righteously demanding that their colleges, the ones they pay tuition to and housing fees and pour a lot of money into, that university or college stop investing in companies that are directly supporting this genocide and indirectly supporting it,” he said.

Students fight back against campus protest policies

As administrators face the challenge of applying protest policies more uniformly and swiftly, the truer test of California public higher education institutions’ protest rules will be playing out in court.

In one already resolved case, UC leadership agreed in August to comply with a court order requiring the campus to end programs or events that exclude Jewish students. A federal judge ruled some Jewish students in support of Israel who were blocked from entering the encampment had their religious liberties violated — though some Jewish students did participate in UCLA’s protest encampment.

Now, students have filed at least two lawsuits against their campuses and the UC system for violating their rights while ending student encampments last spring. In September, ACLU NorCal filed suits against the UC and UC Santa Cruz for not providing students due process when they immediately barred arrested students from returning to campus.

“Those students should have gotten a hearing, an opportunity to defend themselves or to explain themselves, and the school would have shown evidence of why they created a risk of disturbance on campus,” Chessie Thacher, senior staff attorney at ACLU of Northern California, said.

UC Santa Cruz spokesperson Scott Hernandez-Jason said the university “appreciates the court’s careful deliberation” and that the university “is committed to upholding the right to free expression while also protecting the safety of its campus community.”

In October, ACLU SoCal filed lawsuits on behalf of two students and two faculty members against the UC and UCLA alleging the actions the university took to break down the encampment violated their free speech rights.

UCLA spokesperson Ricardo Vazquez told CalMatters via email that the university would respond in court, and that UCLA “fully supports community members expressing their First Amendment rights in ways that do not violate the law, our policies, jeopardize community safety, or disrupt the functioning of the university.”

“The encampment that arose on campus this spring became a focal point for violence, a disruption to campus, and was in violation of the law,” Vazquez said in the email statement. “These conditions necessitated its removal.” 

June Hsu and Lizzy Rager are fellows with the College Journalism Network, a collaboration between CalMatters and student journalists from across California. CalMatters higher education coverage is supported by a grant from the College Futures Foundation.