More than a dozen pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested on Wednesday after they briefly took over the president’s office at Stanford University, authorities said.
In the latest provocative campus action calling for divestment from Israel in the wake of the country’s war with Hamas, students and alumni entered President Richard Saller’s office at about 5:30 a.m. PT, according to the group’s spokesperson.
They vowed to “remain inside the building and are refusing to leave until their demands are met,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
But within three hours, the building appeared to be back in university control after campus police and Santa Clara County Sheriff’s deputies took action, officials said.
“This morning, a group of individuals unlawfully entered Building 10, which houses the offices of the president and provost,” according to Stanford spokesperson Dee Mostofi.
“Law enforcement has arrested 13 individuals, and the building has been cleared,” Mostofi said in a statement. “There has been extensive damage to the interior and exterior of the building. No other campus operations have been affected at this time.”
The protesters are demanding that the school divest itself of any financial interests in any companies “that provide material and logistical support to Israel’s current military campaign,” according to the group.
College students across the nation staged campus protests this spring, demanding that their schools withdraw any investments they say are helping Israeli forces in their military operations in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces have been attacking the Palestinian enclave since Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7.
The most prominent U.S. campus action against Israel was taken by Columbia University students who took over a key building, Hamilton Hall.
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