Students for Gaza SFSU collaborated with protesters at other California State Universities to organize a CSU-wide walkout, which starts at 1 p.m. at Malcolm X Plaza. They encourage students to show support for Palestine and a CSU-wide divestment in Israel. 

This comes after California State University, Sacramento announced a full divestment and condemnation of genocide, saying, “CSU Sacramento opposes all acts of genocide, ethnic cleansing, terrorism, and other activities that violate human rights.” The statement continues, “We support students’ right to engage in peaceful activism without fear for their personal safety.”

After negotiations with university President Lynn Mahoney on Monday, Students for Gaza SFSU released screenshots of an email they sent to Mahoney on their Instagram. In the email, they expressed urgency for President Mahoney to follow through on the encampment demands and to support student advocacy for full divestment at the Board of Trustees meeting on May 19.

They expect a response from Mahoney concerning the Board of Trustees meeting by 5 p.m. today.

SFSU students are encouraged to wear white in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

2:44 p.m. 

A speaker has just announced the end of the walkout and is asking attendees to reflect in remembrance of why they were all there today. Today’s general assembly at 3:30 p.m. for encampment members was also announced.

2:37 p.m.

After 35 minutes, the organizers are asking the protesters to stand up and quietly walk back toward Malcolm X Plaza.

2:11 p.m. 

Students trying to enter campus through the entrance at 19th and Holloway Avenues are walking in another direction to enter campus. The protesters have not moved.

Administrators peer through the windows of the administration building and take photos as student organizers hand out sunscreen and students continue their die-in demonstration. Medics are standing by with supplies in case of emergencies.

2:00 p.m. 

Protesters have started laying baby dolls covered in blood in front of the Administration Building with kids’ shoes bordering the grass. Students are kneeling on the ground between the Administration and HSS buildings as a speaker announces the crowd will perform a die-in in front of the Administration Building for 35 minutes. 

A die-in is a type of protest where protesters simulate being dead.

Five administrators have walked out of the building to observe a moment of silence.

1:55 p.m.

Students are marching back on Holloway Avenue as they approach the library. Drivers passing by are showing the protesters their support by honking. Students are cheering and waving flags. Students turn back onto campus grounds near the Administration Building.

1:50 p.m.

Students are marching on the street toward Marcus Hall near Tapia Drive and Holloway Avenue. Students who provide the encampment with security are walking ahead of the protesters as they approach more security personnel who are guarding the street.

1:45 p.m.

Around 300 protesters have started marching from the plaza toward the gymnasium building, with protesters at the front holding a banner stating, “You can not be neutral to genocide.” Attendees are chanting in masses as they hold signs demanding for divestment.

1:30 p.m.

Speakers continue to address the crowd that has grown to around 300 protesters. More students are joining as SFSU student representatives rally the audience to address their demands.

Students are chanting, “Lynn Mahoney you can’t hide, you’re ignoring genocide” and “one day soon, we will see, from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

1:00 p.m.

Around 50 protesters have arrived to Malcolm X Plaza as speakers for the rally gather to address the audience.

“We’re not here to have our voices heard, we’re here to have our fucking demands met!” Ali Noorzad said. “It’s not a win just for them [Sacramento State], it’s a win for us as well and a win for the entire worldwide liberation movement.”

“Lynn Mahoney, what the fuck is stopping you?” Noorzad repeated multiple times. “There is nothing in the world that is more powerful than solidarity.”

A second speaker, James, addressed the open bargaining event with President Mahoney on Monday, when she said she couldn’t declare the events happening in Palestine a genocide because she doesn’t make political statements.

“Why are you playing both sides to a genocide?,” James said. “There are never two sides to a genocide as Palestinians continuously get dehumanized by the media and larger narrative having their existence narrowed down to the bombs dropped on them. Lynn Mahoney has made SFSU and administration complicit in this narrative.”

12:30 p.m.

On Monday, protesters placed kids’ shoes around the encampment to symbolize the 13,000 kids who died in Gaza in the past six months. Today, more shoes were placed on the path between the HSS and Administration buildings before the walkout. Administrators asked protesters to remove the shoes as they were blocking a major entrance to the university.