A group of students from UW-Eau Claire for Palestine (ECP) sent a list of demands to UW-Eau Claire administrators Wednesday ahead of their protest planned for Friday to show solidarity with Palestine and other campuses protesting across the country.
According to the letter, the demands of the university include divesting from all companies “complicit in war crimes and human rights violations in Palestine,” academically boycotting militarized Israeli institutions and providing financial transparency to students about the university’s investments and spending.
Among the companies ECP wants the university to divest from are Microsoft, the productivity software company used by students and employees for classes, and Sodexo, the contracted food service company at UW-Eau Claire and most Universities of Wisconsin campuses.
“I think we need to hold our representatives accountable and we need financial transparency of where our tuition money is going,” a student, who sent the demands on behalf of ECP, said.
Chancellor James Schmidt declined to comment on the protesters’ demands or the upcoming protest.
ECP said they are planning to stage a protest to show their solidarity with Palestine starting at 11 a.m. on Friday outside of Centennial Hall.
According to Wisconsin Administrative Code UWS 18.07, forming encampments is not permitted on Universities of Wisconsin property without permission from the chief administrative officer, which would be Schmidt at UW-Eau Claire.
The same ECP student said the group will not be forming encampments at UW-Eau Claire but they still show their support for student encampments and demand that UW-Madison students and faculty arrested on Wednesday be released with no charges.
Kasper can be reached at [email protected].
