University staff have so far been unable to convince encampment members to move their tents that they say are blocking an evacuation pathway.
The University of Guelph has issued a legal trespass notice to members of a pro-Palestinian encampment on the southern Ontario school's campus, seven weeks after tents first went up. Group members say the Sunday night deadline to dismantle it wasn't enough time to get it done safely.The University of Guelph has issued a legal notice of trespass to the encampment members, the school announced Monday. The encampment began seven weeks ago.
"In our letter to encampment members, we were clear that the encampment cannot remain on campus indefinitely and requested they leave by 8 p.m. on Sunday," the statement said. "Unfortunately, encampment members have neither dismantled nor vacated. As such, this morning we took the step of serving a legal notice of trespass to members of the encampment.
"For the administration to demand removal with barely 24 hours after a month of no communication since they rejected our proposals is another demonstration of bad faith and constant intimidation tactics taken by the university," the encampment's emailed statement said.The university said it will now seek an injunction order from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice if the encampment members do not disband immediately.
The University of Guelph said in the statement that the camp's demands to divest are currently being considered by an ad-hoc committee at the university.A group called UOGForPalestine organized the approximately 20 tents in Branion Plaza, near the school's library, on May 21, similar to protests set up at other universities in Canada and the U.S.
According to the group's Instagram page, it's protesting "in solidarity with Gaza and as a continuation of our fight for the University of Guelph to divest from genocide."Waida Mirzada, a University of Guelph student and spokesperson for the encampment group, said it has been "mobilizing for months" to have its message heard by the university.Also in the region, on Sunday, protesters dismantled an encampment at the University of Waterloo that started on May 13.
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