A week after student groups clashed with police on the University of South Florida Tampa campus, pro-Palestinian protests have, for the most part, paused with the end of the spring semester.
Law enforcement prevented protesters from setting up solidarity encampments seen at other university campuses. During separate conflicts with police on April 29 and 30, 13 people were arrested and multiple students were suspended.
The response, according to the Tampa Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) was "swift and effective."
"People have the right to protest, even if you don't like what they're protesting," said Jonathan Ellis, chair of the JCRC. "But you have to follow the time, place, manner restrictions."
Ellis said members of his organization have met with USF president Rhea Law and worked with her team to address incidents that made Jewish students feel unsafe since the Oct. 7 attack in Israel.
"There are students that indicate they're afraid to wear their Star of David on campus or a yamaka on campus," he said.
In an open letter, the JCRC thanked the university for addressing "antisemitic and anti-Israel activity" on campus and condemned demonstrators, alleging that some students had celebrated the Hamas attack.
"Calls for violence, acts of violence and disruption of campus life and education are unacceptable and will not be tolerated," read the statement.
The letter also outlined that members of USF administration sat down with the Deputy Consul General of Israel for Florida and watched video of the Oct. 7 attack; attended several Jewish community events; and are covering the cost of around-the-clock cpolice protection of the Hillel Jewish Student Center at USF.
"We know of no other university doing the same and they have met with students and professionals on campus to hear their concerns directly," read the letter.
Meanwhile, student protesters said their concerns have largely gone unheard.
Victoria Hinckley, a member of Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), said USF administration have not made "good faith efforts" to listen to students' demands.
The SDS has been involved in a number of student protests and is currently suspended from the university for a previous rally about diversity demands.
"We've also had no communication from administration and no signs of them wanting to meet with students to hear our concerns," said Hinckley.
She also disputed claims that rallies have been anti-Semitic.
“You have to look at it with a nuanced perspective,” said Hinckley, “When people advocate for a free Palestine that doesn't mean that Jewish people can't live there.”
She also called out the university for addressing the Oct. 7 attack, but remaining silent on the Israeli military response.
According to Israeli authorities, the Hamas invasion killed 1,200 in Israel and resulted in more than 240 people being taken hostage.
Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
"They're leaving students behind," said Hinckley. "Their role as an administration is to support all their students."
Alina Atiq is a senior and member of the USF Divest Coalition, which participated in a hunger strike earlier this year to protest the school's investments in companies that back Israel.
Atiq said students have been calling on the university to divest from companies that support Israel's military operations for years.
"All these different efforts have been completely ignored and neglected by administration," said Atiq.
University officials said that their "consistent position has been and continues to be that the university will not divest."
A USF spokesperson said that the university does not select individual stocks or companies for investment. Instead, fund managers help make investment decisions.
University officials also pointed to state law passed in 2023 that does not permit state universities to make investment decisions "based on social political or ideological interests."
Mari Marks, policy manager for the Council on American-Islamic Relations Florida, pushed against that idea. She argued that the law has to do with purchasing investments, not divesting.
“My reading of it is, it doesn't mention selling or divestment from a contract or ending a contract. It only says you can't be prejudicial in purchasing,” said Marks.
Marks said she’s spoken with students to help them increase their understanding of how divestment works. What she would like to see, she said, is the university being open to sitting down with student groups and having a discussion.
“That would alleviate so much of the tension happening between the students and the administration,” she said.
But administration has so far ignored or declined requests to meet with either students or CAIR, she said. CAIR represented USF’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine in a free speech lawsuit against the governor, Law, and other state and university officials.
That suit was dismissed by a federal judge earlier this year, but the group has the option to appeal or refile their case.
Some universities, including Northwestern, Columbia, Rutgers and University of Minnesota, have reached agreements with anti-war protesters.
In their calls for divestment, USF students frequently made reference to divestment campaigns related to South African apartheid in the 1980s, which eventually led to the university pulling funds from some companies supporting South Africa in 1987.
According to some experts, that situation shows that meeting today’s demands can be tough. Andy Huse, curator of Florida Studies in the University of South Florida Tampa Library Special Collections, spoke to Florida Matters this week.
“Even when there was nobody here who was defending apartheid, or South Africa, it took that long for USF to take action,” Huse said. “That's why I think students, if they want to be effective, they have to think long-term, because this isn't something that, even under the best circumstances, is going to happen anytime soon.”
