The Next Stop for Denver Campus Protesters Is the Democratic Convention

Students in Denver behind one of the longest-running encampments in protest of the Israel-Hamas war disbanded the camp in May. They spent the rest of the summer planning for what comes next.

Three weeks into their pro-Palestinian encampment, student protesters gathered in the People’s Living Room, a communal space they had erected on a public college campus in Denver, Colo., to make a decision about the future of their movement.

By a show of hands, the student activists who had taken over the main quad voted to focus on the next big political moment: the Democratic National Convention.

As a physical symbol of resistance, the encampment, which began in late April, had lost its power. Thousands of students had left the campus, there had been a few violent brushes with the law, and homeless people moved in, changing the mission of the camp. On May 17, they decided to end the encampment, one of the longest running in the nation, and plot their next moves.

“The presidential election, in large part, is going to be a referendum on the genocide in Palestine,” said Paul Nelson, 25, a former Students for a Democratic Society chapter organizer and one of the encampment leaders, who will be at the convention. “We want to be within the sight and sound of the convention. We are going to be there to exercise our discontent.”

What unfolded tumultuously in the spring on college campuses turned into a far more quiet summer — but the organizing did not stop.

The Denver group was working to juggle their jobs and personal lives with pushing the movement along. They decided the way to keep up the momentum was through regular protests along with meetings and WhatsApp chats. So they demonstrated in front of the homes of two university regents weeks after the camp closure, drawing a stark condemnation resolution from the University of Colorado Board of Regents.