Ellie Park, Photography Editor

More than 400 people gathered on Beinecke Plaza on Friday to oppose Yale’s investments in military weapons manufacturers. Protesters set up tents on the Plaza and remained there overnight.

More than 25 police officers were on the scene over the day but did not make arrests, though one individual was detained.

The demonstration was timed to concur with University President Peter Salovey’s send-off party at the Schwarzman Center. Attendees at the party included at least eight members of the Yale Corporation — the University’s highest governing body — as well as current and former University administrators. Yale announced on Wednesday that it would not divest from military weapons manufacturers, a decision that came on the heels of months of pro-divestment campaigning from various students and organizations. 

Dean of Yale College Pericles Lewis told the News on Friday night that he had promised the protest’s student leaders that he would meet with them if they pack up their tents. An organizer told the News they had responded to the administration’s offer and would only consider dispersing if they were granted an open meeting with the Corporation Committee on Investor Responsibility, which recommends investment policy to the full Corporation.

“We are tired of the Trustees hiding behind administrators and advisory committees,” a student wrote to the News on behalf of organizers. “We would only begin to consider dispersal if the trustees themselves agreed to face us.”

Overnight, protestors set up an encampment on Beneicke Plaza with at least 27 tents and close to 100 people sleeping over. An organizer told the News that they would not leave the plaza until the corporation meets their demands to “disclose and divest” from investments in weapons manufacturing.

The protests follow a week-long occupation of the plaza by a coalition of Yale students and faculty, New Haven residents and 14 students who have been on hunger strike since April 13. 

The News followed the day live, as below.

Live updates

12:12 a.m.:

“I think this is a testimony to the power of the movement, the collective power of students, faculty, New Haven community members and Connecticut community members that all made this possible,” said Craig Birckhead-Morton ’24, a protester. “We couldn’t do it without the example of the Columbia students as well. My initial reaction is that the student movement, not just at Yale, not just in Connecticut, but across the country is truly rising.”

On Thursday, Columbia University authorized the New York Police Department to arrest over 100 pro-Palestinian students who had erected an encampment of about 50 tents on the university’s South Lawn. 

Birckhead-Morton also told the News that the work of the protesters was not over.

“Sure, we were able to protect ourselves in the sense that we were able to prevent arrest, but that’s not what we’re here for,” Birckhead-Morton said. “We’re not here for our own safety. We’re here for the safety of the people in Gaza, for the safety of the people around the world who are subject to the violence of the military industrial complex that is led by this country. So we can’t leave until we get divestment, and divestment means remaining here by any means necessary.”

— Yolanda Wang, Staff Reporter

11:51 p.m.:

Protesters will maintain their encampment on Beinecke Plaza overnight, one organizer told the News. They intend to “continue to occupy the Plaza” until their demands are met.

– Yolanda Wang, Staff Reporter

11:51 p.m.:

According to Halstead and another officer, YPD decided not to proceed with dispersing the crowd in the plaza “based on circumstances.” The officers would not elaborate further on what aspects of the circumstance influenced that decision.

– Khuan-Yu Hall, City Editor

11:40 p.m.:  

Organizers announced to the crowd that they were told by administrators there would be no arrests tonight. This announcement was met with cheers from the crowd.

“We are asking you, that if you have a tent, you bring it to the plaza tonight,” the speaker said. 

– Sarah Cook, University Editor, and Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor

11:38 p.m.:

The lights in the Schwarzman Center have been turned off.  Some of the Yale Police officers inside the Center have exited from the other side of the building onto the intersection of Prospect and College Streets. Officers remaining in the building seem to be folding an American flag inside the Center. Protesters are holding a Palestinian flag up to the windows of the door from the outside. 

– Yolanda Wang, Staff Reporter

11:36 p.m.:

Dean of Yale College Pericles Lewis told the News that he has promised the leaders of the protest that he will meet with them if they pack up their tents. An organizer told the News they had responded to the administration’s offer and would only consider dispersing if they were granted an open meeting with the Corporation Committee on Investor Responsibility, which recommends investment policy to the full Corporation.

“We are tired of the Trustees hiding behind administrators and advisory committees,” a student wrote to the News on behalf of organizers. “We would only begin to consider dispersal if the trustees themselves agreed to face us.”

— Sarah Cook, University Editor, and Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor

11:35 p.m.:

Yale Chief of Police Anthony Campbell has left the scene. He confirmed to the News that there has so far been one detention — but did not disclose whether the individual is a Yale student — and no arrests.

 — Anika Arora Seth, Editor in Chief & President, and Sophie Sonnenfeld, Print Managing Editor

11:30 p.m.:

The News asked Yale Police officers in front of the doors of Schwarzman Center if warnings have been issued to protestors. An officer told the News to ask protesters but also said that if a warning is issued, it would be via megaphone. No megaphone warnings have been issued at this point. The officers have moved indoors and handcuffed the doors. 

— Yolanda Wang, Staff Reporter

11:28 p.m.:

Protesters have taken the American flag down from the flagpole in Beinecke Plaza. The action to take down the flag was not sanctioned by the student coalition that organized the bulk of Friday’s demonstrations, an organizer told the News. 

-Yolanda Wang, Staff Reporter, and Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor

11:22 p.m.:

 A protester who identified themselves as a Yale senior led the crowd to repeat, “No warnings have been issued, so we are still safe.”

– Karla Cortes, Staff Reporter

11:21 p.m.:

Police have used handcuffs to lock the doors from Beinecke Plaza to the Schwarzman Center closed. There are police in the rotunda of the building.

– Khuan-Yu Hall, City Editor, and Yolanda Wang, Staff Reporter

11:13 p.m.:

Yale’s spokesperson confirmed at 11:13 p.m. that an individual was detained but not arrested.

– Anika Arora Seth, Editor in Chief & President

11:13 p.m.:

Just before 10:15 p.m., Yale police escorted a person — whom the News could not identify — into an New Haven police van stationed across from the Schwarzman Center. 

At 10:18 p.m., the front door of the van was open as two officers inside appeared to be speaking with the person. When the News approached the van to ask officers whether officers had made any arrests, one of the police officers said, “You are not supposed to be here,” slammed the door to the van and pulled down the blinds of one window. 

A few minutes later, an officer emerged from the van and requested that reporters back away from the van. That officer claimed that police intended to let the person inside the van go, and said that the person was afraid to leave because of reporters. 

The officer also told reporters from the News to get off of Yale property. When reporters told the officer they were Yale students, she said they could stay. 

The News confirmed that at least one student was detained but could not determine the identity of the student or whether the person in the van was a student or whether they were detained or arrested. 

– Yurii Stasiuk, Staff Reporter, and Sophie Sonnenfeld, Print Managing Editor

11:12 p.m.:

Protesters are now chanting, “Disclose! Divest! We won’t stop and we won’t rest!” 

– Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor

11:06 p.m.:

Four students who identified themselves as Yale College seniors began speaking to protesters on a megaphone and called shame upon the attendees at Salovey’s event.

One of the Yale seniors announced that they “may be ex-commed and that excom means we may not get our diplomas or be allowed to walk at graduation.” The Executive Committee’s purpose is to enforce the Undergraduate Regulations and address any behavior by an undergraduate “that may imperil the integrity, values, or safety of the academic community or that may endanger university property or resources,” per the Yale College website. 

“We do not negotiate with terrorists,” the speaker yelled. The announcement was met with cheers by the audience who repeated the student’s words.  

– Karla Cortes, Staff Reporter

10:55 p.m.:

Lieutenant Halstead told the News that YPD likely plans to begin clearing Beinecke at 11 p.m. He added that there are concerns about how to disperse the crowd successfully.

– Khuan-Yu Hall, City Editor

10:51 p.m.:

Attendees have begun using flashlights while singing “We shall not be moved.”

– Karla Cortes, Staff Reporter

10:47 p.m.:

Protest organizers told the News that Yale police have notified them they would be issuing three “dispersal or arrest” warnings to the crowd before beginning arrests. Police did not provide a timeline for these warnings.

– Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor

10:32 p.m.:

The five officers stationed outside of Schwarzman on the Beinecke Plaza side turned off their body cameras. Lieutenant Jay Jones, a Yale Police officer, said that the cameras are all “operational” although not recording, and that officers turned them off “to save battery.” 

The State of Connecticut’s policy for use of body-worn recording equipment and dashboard cameras states that police officers shall activate body-worn cameras “while interacting with the public in a law enforcement capacity,” with an exception in certain circumstances in which the officers determine “the investigation could be significantly hampered if recording were to continue.”

– Yolanda Wang, Staff Reporter, and Sarah Cook, University Editor

10:00 p.m.: 

Over 250 protesters remain on the Plaza, continuing to chant as attendees began to exit Salovey’s dinner. Protestors had already erected over 25 camping tents on the Plaza around 8 p.m. Also at 10 p.m. at least 20 New Haven Police officers stood on both sides of the Schwarzman Center. At least six of them, who are standing inside the building, are wearing riot gear.

On the other side of Schwarzman, at the intersection of College and Grove streets, two rows of 20 police officers lined the path from the center exit of Schwarzman to the curb of the sidewalk. A police vehicle barricaded the sidewalk on College Street, and pedestrians were not allowed to stand or cross through the closed-off stretch of sidewalk, where event-goers exited from the building and walked to their vehicles. Several of the trustees got into plain white vans parked at the side of the closed-off sidewalk.

– Yale Daily News

10:00 p.m.:

More than 400 people gathered on Beinecke Plaza on Friday to oppose Yale’s investments in military weapons manufacturers.

The demonstration occurred while Yale trustees and senior administrators prepared for University President Peter Salovey’s send-off party at the Schwarzman Center. Attendees at the party included at least eight members of the Yale Corporation — the University’s highest governing body — as well as current and former University administrators. 

At 10 p.m., over 250 protestors remained on the Plaza, continuing to chant as attendees began to exit Salovey’s dinner. Protestors had already erected over 25 camping tents on the Plaza around 8 p.m. 

Also as of 10 p.m., at least 20 New Haven Police officers are on both sides of the Schwarzman Center. At least six of them, who are standing inside the building, are wearing riot gear.

As Salovey — who intends to step down on June 30 — entered the Schwarzman Center at around 5:50 p.m. through a side entrance, over 100 students rushed in front of the Center’s colonnade to confront him. Several students shouted expletives at Salovey while others chanted phrases such as “shame on you” and “hey hey, ho ho, there’s blood on your portfolio.”

Yale police and administrators formed a wall to contain students while forcing them to move back to where the students had set up canopy tents used by protestors during the day. Around 300 other protesters remained on the steps of the Schwarzman Center to continue reading statements. 

The protests follow a week-long occupation of the plaza by a coalition of Yale students and faculty, New Haven residents and 14 students who have been on hunger strike since April 13. Yale’s Wednesday announcement that it would not divest from military weapons manufacturers came amid months of pro-divestment campaigning from various students and organizations. 

According to Yale’s most recent SEC filings, the University holds over 6,400 shares — worth $680,207 — of iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF, an exchange-traded fund managed by Blackrock. The fund invests in at least 75 military contractors that sell weapons to Israel, including 0.27 percent of its holdings in Raytheon, 0.20 percent in Boeing and 0.19 percent in Lockheed Martin. Across all 75 contractors, Yale’s investment in iShares translates to about $21,000 in military weaponry. 

The University also holds 342,000 shares in Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF, totaling $14 million. Of that $14 million, about $428,000 of Yale’s money in Vanguard is invested in companies that contract with the Israeli military, such as Tata Group, Larsen & Toubro Ltd., Adani Group and Bharat Dynamics Ltd.

Under 0.3 percent of Yale’s endowment investments are publicly disclosed, so the full extent to which Yale is invested in weapons manufacturers remains unclear. Per the University’s most recent tax returns, much of the rest of Yale’s endowment is held in private companies not subject to public disclosure requirements. 

Friday’s actions included teach-ins — such as one from Yale Law School professor James Forman Jr. LAW ’92 hosted by Yalies4Palestine on student activism — and interfaith prayers. Ali Elaydi, a resident at the School of Medicine, also shared his recent experience during a medical mission in Gaza. 

Protesters chanted slogans such as “Yale pays the bills, apartheid kills” and “shame on you” throughout the afternoon as Salovey’s party invitees entered Schwarzman.

Just before 5:30 p.m., protestors began a “people’s forum,” where protestors were invited to write testimonies on military weapons manufacturing to be shared out loud before the crowd.

About 20 people from the Connecticut Palestine Solidarity Coalition came to Beinecke Plaza around 7:30 p.m. with a speaker and supplies. Members of New Haven Jewish Voice for Peace also attended the protest, and the group promoted the event on Instagram, according to Shelly Altman, who is a leader in the group.

Protests in the evening also included chants initiated by New Haven community members, such as “there is only one solution, intifada revolution” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine is almost free.” Student organizers said that they did not sanction the chants and that the chants were led by demonstrators outside of the organizing coalition.

As the sun set, about 60 protesters prayed Maghrib — the Muslim evening prayer — on the Plaza while the rest of the demonstrators present surrounded them in a circle. 

As of 9:50 p.m., there were at least 12 police officers in the area, and multiple police cars stationed around Beinecke and the Schwarzman Center. Yale Security officers were also present at the protest.

Nydia del Carmen, Ben Hernandez, Christina Lee, Ariela Lopez, Ellie Park, Josie Reich, Yurii Stasiuk, Adam Walker, Carlos Salcerio, Nathaniel Rosenberg, Anika Arora Seth, Yolanda Wang, Karla Cortes and Tristan Hernandez contributed reporting.