Students shut down Cal Poly Humboldt campus to support Gaza ceasefire, divestment from Israel

Many of the students demonstrating outside Siemens Hall said that being on campus gives them purpose amid the violence in Gaza.

“My family is Pakistani Muslim, so we’re more aware of this than other people are,” said one first-year student wearing a keffiyeh at the demonstration, who said that watching the violence unfold on social media prompted him to get involved. The student asked not to be identified because he feared repercussions from the university.

He missed class on Monday but was eager to join the protesters when he found out students were occupying Siemens Hall.

“I think the solution is to get involved, because at least I can feel like I’m doing my part, even if it’s not enough, I’m doing the best I can to make something of it. I find peace in that.”

Cal Poly Humboldt, which was previously called Humboldt State University until 2022, when it became a Cal Poly campus, is the only California State University campus where students have occupied to the extent of a university shutdown.

The student body is also unique among the many elite and private universities, such as Columbia and USC, where similar demonstrations are taking place.

Humboldt students, often cast as the hippie stoners of the CSU system, are typically lower income than other CSU students. As of 2019, one in five Humboldt students is also experiencing homelessness. Amid a housing shortage for students, the university began fining students for sleeping in campus parking lots in RVs late last year.

“Being inside that building, there was a fundamental, minimum common agreement that we knew there was a potential for police action, for legal action, for violence. But we’re not here for violence,” said Skunk Spray.

“This is the greatest expression of love. That is the thing we all share. It’s not comfortable, sleeping on the floor outside the president’s office. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for love.”

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