DENVER — Cleanup efforts are underway on Denver's Auraria Campus Saturday after pro-Palestinian protesters abandoned an encampment Friday that was established on the Tivoli Quad three weeks ago.
Campus officials said crews have closed the quad and all other green spaces "until further notice" to expedite the restoration of the campus.
They also said Saturday that access to campus buildings and facilities remains restricted to critical personnel and operations.
The campus was placed on modified building access Friday. At the same time, it was announced that all three schools within the Auraria Campus would be switching to remote learning in response to the protest.
Later that evening, demonstrators began dismantling the main encampment and completely disbanded all camps by Saturday, but the restrictions announced Friday remain in place.
Denver
Demonstrators dismantle Auraria Campus encampment after 3-week protest
Protesters at the campus established the encampment that grew to more than 100 structures on April 25, demanding that the University of Colorado and Metro State University cut ties with Israel and fully disclose its financial investments amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
But both schools declined to accept the group’s demands.
Despite this, Khalid Hamu, an organizer of the encampment, called the protest a success and said this was not an end to their movement.
Officials estimate the demonstration has cost the campus as much as $290,000 and led to 80 arrests after protesters occupied campus buildings on at least three occasions during the three-week protest.
The final cost of the cleanup and the extent of the damage is not known at this time.
Similar demonstrations unfolded at campuses nationwide and in Denver.
Protesters at the University of Denver have been occupying the quad outside the university’s administrative building on Carnegie Green.
