Student protesters on the plaza quad Saturday. | Photo by Ryan Burns.

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As pro-Palestinian protesters continue to occupy portions of the Cal Poly Humboldt campus, which is currently under an enforced hard closure due to the ongoing demonstration, the University Senate Executive Committee has passed a resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. 

The executive committee is a subset of the full University Senate, which is a deliberative body composed of elected and appointed members of administration, faculty, staff and students. But the resolution says the committee is acting on behalf of the full body.

The document also offers a brief overview of the events in the Middle East that have inspired protests at campuses across the country. It says the state of Israel “has maintained a disproportionate response” to the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack, killing tens of thousands of civilians, a majority of which were women and children.

Six days into the occupation, the university itself has yet to acquiesce to the protesters’ demands, though on Friday it issued an initial response that addressed six of their requests – one of which is a call for the university to what the senate has done: publicly call for a ceasefire and end to the occupation of Palestine.

The university’s response to that particular demand was essentially a general statement of values, reading, in part, “We are supportive of a peaceful and just world which affords the opportunity for all human beings to flourish and achieve their potential.”

Here’s the text of the University Senate’s resolution:

CAL POLY HUMBOLDT
University Senate

Sense of the Senate Resolution on
A Call for Permanent Ceasefire in Gaza

25-23/24-EX — April 26, 2024

WHEREAS, The vision of Cal Poly Humboldt states: Cal Poly Humboldt will be a campus for those who seek above all else to improve the global human condition and our relationship with the environment; and

WHEREAS, Since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,163 Israelis, and captured still held 134 hostages, the state of Israel has maintained a disproportionate response killing more than 42,500 Palestinians, including 38,621 civilians, of which 10,091 were women and 15,780 were children [source] , and

WHEREAS, UN independent human rights experts have determined that 5,800 students and teachers have been killed, “more than 80 percent of schools in Gaza [have been] damaged or destroyed,” and 625,000 students are left without places to study and learn due to attacks on schools and universities [source]; and

WHEREAS, The Students, Faculty, and Staff of Cal Poly Humboldt are deeply committed to peace and humane treatment of all people; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That Cal Poly Humboldt Senate Executive Committee, acting on behalf of the University Senate, calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza; and be it further

RESOLVED, That this resolution be distributed to:

The Office of the Chancellor of California State University
The Academic Senate of California State University
The Cal Poly Humboldt University Senate
The Faculty, Staff and Students of Cal Poly Humboldt
Governor Gavin Newsom, State of California
Senator Mike McGuire, President Pro Tempore of the California Senate
Representative Jared Huffman, US House of Representatives

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