Protesters against the war between Israel and Hamas were voluntarily taking down their tents in Harvard Yard on Tuesday, after university officials agreed to discuss their questions about the endowment, The Associated Press reported.
The student protest group “Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine” said in a statement that the encampment “outlasted its utility with respect to our demands.”
Meanwhile, Harvard University interim President Alan Garber agreed to pursue a meeting between protesters and university officials regarding the students’ questions, according to AP.
Harvard said its president and the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Hopi Hoekstra, will meet with the protesters to discuss the conflict in the Middle East.
The protesters said they worked out an agreement to meet with university officials including the Harvard Management Company, which oversees the world's largest academic endowment, valued at about $50 billion.
The protesters’ statement said the students will set an agenda including discussions on disclosure, divestment and reinvestment, and the creation of a “Center for Palestine Studies”. The students also said that Harvard has offered to retract the suspensions of more than 20 students and student workers and back down on disciplinary measures faced by 60 more.
The anti-Israel encampment at Harvard was one of many that have been set up at campuses across the US in recent weeks.
Last Thursday, LAPD and California Highway Patrol cleared an anti-Israel protest encampment on the UCLA campus, arresting 132 people.
Two days later, a group of pro-Palestinian Arab protesters at the University of Michigan briefly interrupted the spring commencement ceremony.
A day later, the Los Angeles Police Department removed a pro-Palestinian Arab encampment at the University of Southern California, pushing several dozen people out of the campus gates.
In another incident, police in riot gear cleared an anti-Israel encampment at the University of Chicago.