The Denver SDS chapter has become a nationally known force in the fight for Palestinian lives during the war since its encampment protest on Auraria in late April of this year that resulted in the arrests of students and faculty members. Joining in the nationwide string of encampment protests in support of Palestine, Auraria had the largest encampment and most sustained protests in Colorado, lasting for about three weeks after the arrests.
Since the encampment, the SDS chapter has been suspended by the University of Colorado Denver and Metropolitan State University of Denver because the Auraria Higher Education Center's (AHEC) anti-camping policy was violated during the protest. The suspension limits SDS’s ability to organize on campus by prohibiting the group from booking classrooms for meetings or tables at campus events and disallows the advertisement of protests and gatherings with fliers.
The Denver SDS chapter's walkout yesterday, estimated at over sixty people, was the organization's first major event at Auraria since the encampment disbanded in the spring, and less than two months after members attended the Democratic National Convention in Chicago to protest alongside pro-Palestine members from across the nation. The “broad coalition” of people at the DNC was essential to SDS’s plans to reorganize and move forward from the suspension, according to SDS member Harriet Falconetti, a CU Denver student who attended the DNC.
“We’re in a period of recovery since the encampment, and lots of people are having to deal with legal issues right now,” Falconetti said at the protest. “But I think our main goal is to keep turning out people, organizing and rebuilding that momentum from our initial encampment in April.”
The suspension has also forced out the National SDS Convention, which was supposed to be held on campus on October 12 and 13. According to Metro State student and SDS member Lucia Feast, attempts to rebook the convention at Auraria have been rebuffed, so the event could be held at a nearby high school instead.
Over sixty students participated in the walkout and protest, which began on the Auraria campus and ended at Union Station in downtown Denver.
Chloe Ragsdale
“SDS exists whether we're a registered organization or not, and so we're going to continue to organize. And, you know, students exercising free speech on campus should be allowed, regardless of if it's with a registered organization or not,” she said while protesting.
The walkout at Auraria began a march to Union Station, where students and SDS members joined hundreds of other protesters, including members of the Colorado Palestine Coalition, Jewish Voices for Peace, Denver Party for Socialism, Denver Anti-War Action and the Revolutionary Communists of America.
From Union Station, the crowd traveled in a circular route, pausing at various intersections for various speakers to share rallying words. Along the way, they alternated chants of “The Palestine struggle is our struggle,” and “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest” to the beat of a snare drum.
Joining hundreds of other pro-Palestine members of the Denver community is one of the biggest steps SDS has taken since the encampment, according to members, who say they will continue to advocate for divestment and disclosure measures from Colorado institutions.
Hatem Teirelbar, a member of SDS who attends CU Denver, believes the encampment earlier this year successfully gained attention from CU Denver and MSU — and he doesn't rule out bringing the tents back.
“The encampment as a tactic is something that may come back if we think it's necessary," Teirelbar told Westword after the protest. "Obviously, it’s a very powerful form of protest.”
But before another encampment is in the works, he added, SDS will continue to ask for meetings with the Board of Regents and the Board of Trustees for both universities to encourage them to divest from organizations supporting Israel, and to disclose financial information to students and faculty.
“I think we’re making some progress there,” Teirelbar says.
CU Denver Student Life and Metro State's Center for Multicultural Engagement and Inclusion, the two university departments responsible for SDS's suspension, did not respond to requests for comment.
This article was updated to correct an error regarding the number of student and faculty arrests on Auraria campus during pro-Palestine protests.
