DENVER — Pro-Palestinian protesters who set up an encampment at the University of Denver nearly three weeks ago have left.
In a message that went out to the DU community Wednesday, Chancellor Jeremy Haefner said DU leadership had met with representatives from the protesting group on Tuesday to discuss their "ongoing concerns about their and the wider community's safety," and told them the university would not meet their demands "for practical and policy-guided reasons."
The protesters, in turn, shared "the deep dedication and passion for the cause that brought them together in the first place," Haefner said.
The protesters peacefully removed their encampment Wednesday morning, according to Haefner.
In a statement shared on Instagram, protest leaders said their fight is not over.
"The Board of Trustees, Chancellor Jeremy Haefner, and the rest of administration are cowards who continue to support genocide," the statement said. "Genocidal cowards never win. We know that a better world is possible. It is up to the people to start the revolution, and it will be the people who win."
"Stay tuned for next steps in DU4Palestine's fight against DU's genocidal support," the statement said.
Haefner said the past three weeks have been challenging for DU.
"Concerns about safety, discrimination and harassment, incidents of vandalism on campus, the spread of misinformation and general discontent have created painful rifts in our community," the message said. "And while the encampment sparked diverse expressions of opinion, we also witnessed discourse from all sides that was neither civil nor respectful."
He called on students, faculty and staff to "engage in meaningful and respectful discussions" moving forward.
A group of DU students began protesting on the university's campus on May 9 with a list of demands for the school's leaders. The protest group said they built a "solidarity encampment for Palestine" to urge the university to "divest from Israeli war crimes."
On May 21, the protesters failed to meet a 9 p.m. deadline set by DU officials to clear their encampment. School leaders cited increased safety concerns in a letter asking them to leave the encampment on their own.
Similar student protests have been organized on campuses across the country protesting Israel's attacks on Gaza and demanding their schools' divestment from companies linked to Israel's military campaign.
An encampment on the Auraria Campus in Denver was taken down on May 17 and 18. Organizers there said their protest would shift to "a new iteration of exhibitions throughout campus."
This article draws from previous reporting by Janet Oravetz.
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