On the second day of the UC Santa Barbara encampment supporting Palestine and “all oppressed groups,” it has grown from about 20 participants to 80 participants and has increased the number of tents and signs on the lawn between North Hall and the Library.

As of Thursday evening, there had been no activity from counter-protesters. The encampment had a full schedule on Thursday that included safety workshops, global liberation conversations, a poetry reading and sunset yoga, according to a post by @ucsbliberatedzone on Instagram.

On Thursday morning, UCSB Chancellor Henry Yang released a statement stating that the university is “monitoring these situations carefully.”

“Yesterday afternoon, an unpermitted rally took place, which caused some disturbance due mostly to noise,” Yang wrote to the campus community via email. “Yesterday morning, an unauthorized ‘encampment’ was set up near North Hall, adjacent to classrooms and academic office buildings.”

Yang wrote that the university is willing to work with students protesting but that anyone violating laws or codes of conduct are subject to disciplinary action. 

“Moving forward, we are willing to work with student groups that wish to protest or express their rights and views peacefully, consistent with law and campus conduct policies, without disrupting or interfering with our core educational and research mission,” Yang wrote. “We must ensure campus safety, and respect the right of everyone on campus to feel safe. Those violating laws and codes of conduct in unsanctioned, illegal and disruptive activities, whether non-affiliates or members of our campus community, are subject to legal and disciplinary action.”

“It’s been really nice being in community with these people,” said Lexi, a UCSB student and a member of the encampment media team who said she would not give her last name because of concerns over doxxing. “Being on the UCSB campus before this felt very individualized, how the government wants it to be, and now I feel like I have a community that has the same values as me, and it’s nice.”

The encampment set up at 4 a.m. Wednesday joined other universities across the country calling for a liberated Palestine.

Erica, a UCSB student and another member of the encampment media team who chose not to give her last name because of concerns over doxxing, said the encampment has had organizations from San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles and San Diego reaching out to them to provide support. 

Lexi said that no one from the university reached out to members of the encampment before the chancellor’s statement was released and that no one from administration has asked them to leave. 

In his message to the campus community, Yang acknowledged the conflict in the Middle East but didn’t name Palestine directly. 

“We recognize that the violence and suffering in the Middle East have caused great distress in our campus community, and we urgently hope that a peaceful resolution will be found,” Yang wrote.

Lexi said Yang not acknowledging Palestine showed Yang’s stance on the situation.

“We’re here, obviously, for Palestine,” Lexi said. “We’ve been doing chants for a free Palestine, and for him not to specify that we are talking about Palestine, it just shows his positioning because he’s censoring his own language.”

In his statement, Yang addressed the university’s upcoming commencement ceremonies, which are scheduled for June 15-16. 

“Many students who were deprived of their high school graduation ceremonies by the pandemic four years ago are now looking forward to their UCSB commencement and the culmination of their undergraduate education,” Yang wrote. “We owe it to them to allow them to complete their studies in an environment that supports teaching and learning. We encourage everyone to work together to protect the safety and collegiality of our academic community.”

Erica told Noozhawk that she thought the threat of potentially canceling the commencement ceremony and comparing the situation to the COVID-19 pandemic were disrespectful.

“One is a deliberate conversation between militarization and political ideology, and the other was a sickness that was distributed through means that could not be controlled,” Erica said. “COVID was by chance, whereas what’s happening in Haiti and Congo and Palestine and Somalia and Sudan are deliberate actions.”

Earlier this year, numerous student workers and staff members at the university’s MultiCultural Center were doxxed and had their personal information posted online after pro-Palestine and anti-Zionism signs were posted at the center. 

Lexi and Erica said this incident is a large part of the reason they and other protesters are protecting their identity out of concerns that it could happen again. Many protesters in the encampment have been wearing COVID-19 masks.

“Masking is not only for our safety in terms of doxxing but also for protecting our physical health in terms of illness,” Lexi said. 

Erica said the encampment plans to stay through the weekend and beyond, and will continue to have speakers come in and have conversations focused around liberation. 

They are continuing to ask that the university disclose and divest their investments, demilitarize, and provide academic freedom and protection.

“​​We want Chancellor Yang to be very transparent about the displacement of people not only across the oceans, but also people in our local area,” Erica said.