One year ago today, Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin authorized campus and local police to raid University of Wisconsin Madison’s pro-Palestine encampment on the third day.
The encampment, organized by UW-Madison Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Wisconsin Young Democratic Socialists of America, followed a movement at college campuses across the country to call for university divestment from Israel. It lasted for 12 days until protesters and university administration reached an agreement to end the protest on the night before spring graduation.
After police confiscated all but two tents on May 1, 2024, protesters were quick to rebuild. Four protesters were booked into the Dane County Jail and a total of 34 people were arrested at the May 1 police raid. Protesters and police officers both reported injuries, yet the encampment was a largely peaceful gathering outside of police intervention. They organized daily free meals at the People’s Kitchen, campus speakers, prayer, a Liberation Shabbat and distributed books.
In the last year, Israel’s violence and devastation in Gaza has continued while President Donald Trump’s second term has launched unprecedented attacks on higher education and campus protests.
The Trump administration revoked and then restored the visas of international students across the country — including almost 30 UW-Madison students — froze research grants and funding, deported a permanent U.S. resident and encampment leader at Columbia University and threatened to withhold federal funding from universities that do not coalesce with demands aimed at combating campus antisemitism. UW-Madison and many of its peers have criticized these moves as extreme overreach.
Since last spring’s encampment, pro-Palestine protests have largely lost momentum on campus and UW-Madison students have warned of a chilling effect on campus speech due to the Trump administration's attacks on pro-Palestine campus activism.
Here are several moments, in photos, that defined last spring’s encampment.
- Noe Goldhaber
Pro-Palestine protesters followed suit with other universities across the country by pitching tents on Library Mall on April 29, 2024.
Students form a human protection circle around encampments supporting Free Palestine on April 29, 2024.
Protesters hold signs, wave flags and lock arms while calling on the university to divest during the first day of the pro-Palestine encampment on Library mall on April 29, 2024.
David Skadron holds sign saying "Hamas Hates Palestinians" while being ushered to a "safer place" by UWPD police at a pro-Palestine protest on April 29, 2024.
A pro-Israel counterprotester is escorted off of library mall by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department while holding a sign that says, “HAMAS HATES PALESTINIANS” during the first day of the UW-Madison pro-Palestine encampment on April 29, 2024. Pro-Israel counterprotesters gathered on Library Mall several times throughout the encampment.
Police seen through the windows of the Fluno Center on April 29, 2024. On the first night of the encampment, police established a staging area at the Fluno Center, a few blocks from the encampment. The Daily Cardinal observed police with batons and zip-tie handcuffs at the Fluno Center. Police also shoved campus-area alders out of the Fluno Center.
Pro-Palestine protesters hold each other while police attempt to tear down the Library Mall encampment on May 1, 2024.
Police attempt to remove the pro-Palestine encampment on Library Mall as protesters lock arms to halt them on May 1, 2024.
A pro-Palestine protester is detained by police during the raid on the Library Mall encampment on May 1, 2024.
A tent on May 2, 2024, that survived the police raid on pro-Palestine encampment has a sign taped to it in referencing statements from university administration claiming the encampment had been completely removed. The sign says, “This tent has stood since Monday. No one likes a liar Mnookin.”
High school students from Madison East and West High School march on the Wisconsin State Capitol in solidarity with the pro-Palestine encampment at Library Mall on May 3, 2024.
A “Liberation Shabbat” is held at the Library Mall encampment on May 3, 2024.
Pro-Palestine protesters march to Bascom Hill during a faculty senate meeting on May 6, 2024. At the meeting, Mnookin addressed her decision to authorize the encampment raids for the first time and faculty and protesters criticized campus administration.
Professor Sameer Alatout sits among the crowd during a faculty senate meeting to bring attention to the demands made by the pro-Palestine protesters on May 6, 2024. Alatout served as an advisor to SJP and liaison between protesters and faculty during the encampment.
Encampment organizers packed up camping materials on May 9, 2024 after protesters and university struck a deal to end the encampment. Campus administration agreed to facilitate conversations with the UW Foundation and protesters, while encampment organizers agreed not to disrupt graduation ceremonies or organize future encampments. The university later completed disciplinary proceedings into 30-40 students allegedly involved in the encampment and recommended sanctions against several protesters.
