Protesters gathered outside the Trousdale Parkway campus entrance this afternoon as part of the International Student Strike organized by USC Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), SCALE, USC Divest from Death and the USC Palestine Justice Faculty Group.
Demonstrators wearing face coverings held signs with the words “Divest from Death,” “USC funds Genocide,” while chanting slogans like “Free, free, free Palestine,” and “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.”
“Today, we walk out,” USC SJP posted on Instagram hours before the walkout. “We take a stand against genocide with our actions, not simply our words.”
Students at universities across California, including UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly Pomona, UC Irvine, San Diego State University and Occidental College participated in the walkout.
“People in Palestine, people in Lebanon, Syria and Iran are experiencing unspeakable violence at the hands of the Israeli apartheid regime, which is backed by our government and backed by our school,” a media liaison for USC SJP said.
Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers were on the scene and blocked off most of the gates at the Trousdale Parkway entrance, allowing only one access point for students entering campus.
“We are here to ensure their rights are protected while they have this demonstration and that they don’t further violate any USC policies,” Steve Alegre, a sergeant with DPS, said.
Violations of the policy included any disruption to the normal business functions of the university, including classes.
Alegre said that DPS would not act “independently,” but would instead take action “when the university administration asks DPS to do so on [its] behalf.”
The media liaison for USC SJP said the group was pleased with Folt’s decision to retire at the end of the academic year, while still acknowledging that there were other power structures in place at the university that the group would continue to pressure.
“Carol Folt is a figurehead of the administration, the Board of Trustees is the real target for us and the rest of the administration that continue to invest in arms manufacturers and the apartheid regime study abroad program in Israel,” the liaison said.
However, the group said they hope the new president will be a better voice for the pro-Palestine voices.
“Whatever happens, we will continue to be here fighting for divestment, for disclosure, and better conditions for workers on campus, because we believe that those issues are fundamentally connected,” the media liaison for USC SJP said.