Gathering marks one year since the Palestine solidarity encampment

On May 11 community members gathered in the University of Alberta’s Main Quad to mark one year since the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) removed the Palestine solidarity encampment at the university’s request. 

At around 1:00 p.m. on May 11 there were about 25 people in attendance. The gathering began with Tatreez, a kind of traditional Palestinian embroidery, and beading. Later, there was a teach-in about the history of the Nakba, which was the displacement of Palestinians from their territory, and a screening of Resistance, Why?

The People’s University For Palestine YEG, a joint group between MacEwan and U of A community members, started an encampment on the morning of May 9, 2024. The encampment demanded that the U of A defend the right to protest, declare the violence in Gaza a genocide, disclose its investments, and divest from companies associated with Israel.

The U of A issued multiple trespass notices before requesting EPS remove the encampment. EPS removed the encampment in the early hours of May 11, 2024.

Protests at the U of A continued through much of the summer and into the academic year. 

“We would like to see real accountability from the university,” Capper says

Beth Capper, a U of A professor in the English department, attended the gathering and spoke to The Gateway. 

“[Today] marks one year since the Edmonton Police violently came into our campus and displaced the People’s University for Palestine,” she said. “Part of the reason we’re here is to take back that space to mark that time, but also to continue to draw attention to the ongoing genocide in Gaza.”

When The Gateway asked if she felt the university had meaningfully engaged with concerned community members and the demands of the protest, Capper said no. 

She said the U of A’s recent outreach around its investments “was very poorly advertised to people.”

“There was very little transparency or follow up in terms of questions that many folks had about their strategies and investments.”

Capper said that campus groups have done work to find where the U of A has investments, but there hasn’t been any response to that information. 

“We would like to see real accountability from the university,” Capper said. 

She said the original demands of the encampment for the university to defend, declare, and divest still stand. 

Capper said they understand that divestment takes time, but they haven’t seen a commitment to begin that process.

“They will look back at this moment, I think one day down the line, and ask themselves why they couldn’t be on the right side of history. And we will never forget that they weren’t.”

“We are moving forward in growth,” U of A media relations says

A statement from U of A media relations said that the university has made progress on the recommendations made by Adele Kent in the third-party review of the university’s response to the encampment.

“Five are complete and four are in progress, with one under consideration,” the statement said. “These recommendations are built into action plans community-wide to reaffirm our commitment to being a place of free expression, open inquiry and debate; restorative and open dialogue; safety and respect; transparency and accountability.”

The statement also noted that the Board of Governors (BoG) made updates to the university’s investment policies. It said the process was “informed by community consultation and industry experts.”

“As a community, we are moving forward in growth and in strengthening our relationships to one another,” the statement said.

U of A discloses investments in its endowment pool

Laurie Adkin, a professor emerita of political science at the U of A, told The Gateway in an interview on April 14 that she hasn’t seen much progress in the demands of community members. 

She said that the Climate Action Coalition at the University of Alberta (CAUA), which she is involved in, shares the demands for disclosure and divestment. The group focuses more on the divestment from the fossil fuel industry. 

In September 2024, BoG made the reports on the University Endowment Pool (UEP) from the last three years publicly available. The statement published about the UEP reports also noted that consultation with the U of A community about “responsible investment” as part of its policy review would happen later in the fall. 

Adkin took issue with how the university disclosed the investments. She said the university released it in a way that was “very hard for them to do anything with.” 

Adkin released a report on the disclosed investments through CAUA. She said it took her three months to compile the information into the report. 

Consultation on the U of A’s investment policies

Adkin said that she attended an online consultation meeting on December 12, 2024. She noted that the event was not widely advertised and took place during the end of term when courses end and exams begin. 

She said she took note of everyone who attended and the questions that were asked. 

“There are so many questions that were asked that they didn’t really have answers for us.”

Capper echoed Adkin’s concerns around transparency and a lack of answers when she spoke to The Gateway on May 11.

She said that a member of administration, Julie Keyser, said they would follow up with those who didn’t receive an answer to their questions later. Adkin told The Gateway that no one followed up with her and other attendees she talked to.

In January, Adkin emailed Keyser with some of the questions that people had asked at the engagement session. 

Keyser replied that the university would use the information from the session “to help prepare and inform a What We Heard report that will be released later this spring.” 

The U of A released the Investing in the Path Forward: What We Heard report in March. 

Adkin said the university didn’t inform participants in the consultation that it has released the report.

She characterized the report as “superficial” and offered no answers to the concerns or questions raised by community members.

Adkin noted that the report said there were 45 people who participated in the December 12 session. She said that was misleading, as 35–37 of the attendees were university administrators. Adkin also said that there were no governors from BoG in attendance.

With files from Gabriella Menezes