Students stage a pro-Palestinian “study-in” in the Engineering Center lobby around 11 a.m. on Oct. 7, 2025. (Sagan Randall/CU Independent)
In stark contrast to last year, this Oct. 7 passed mostly quietly on campus at the University of Colorado Boulder. In 2024, megaphoned voices, chants, signs and flags filled the Dalton Trumbo Fountain Court, calling for an end to Israel’s occupation of Gaza. The quad of Norlin Library was filled with hundreds of Israeli flags, commemorating lives lost in the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023.
This year, Students Supporting Israel hosted a booth beneath the University Hill Underpass to honor the Israeli hostages, featuring candles and yellow pins to show solidarity and spark conversation. On the opposite end of campus, a sole and silent pro-Palestine gathering was shut down by university administration.
A group of CU Boulder students participated in a “study-in 4 Palestine” at the Engineering Center lobby at 11 a.m. on Tuesday. Members of the group had seen an Instagram post for the study-in, co-posted by Boulder Students for Justice in Palestine and Boulder Students for a Democratic Society.
A “study-in” is considered a publicized, silent form of protest, in which participants display signs related to their cause, according to Harvard Libraries.
The six students in attendance wore disposable medical face masks and keffiyehs, or traditional Palestinian head scarves, and studied at tables in the Engineering Center’s lobby. Some students had paper signs near their computers, displaying phrases like, “CU is complicit in genocide,” and “Two years of genocide and you’re still doing nothing.”
Students stage a pro-Palestinian “study-in” in the Engineering Center lobby around 11 a.m. on Oct. 7, 2025. (Sagan Randall/CU Independent)
Shortly after the study-in started, participants were approached by Chris Sachs, the assistant dean for operations, facilities and safety at the College of Engineering and Applied Science. Sachs informed the group that they needed to leave the area because it was an unauthorized event. After questioning by the group, Sachs explained that it was because Boulder Students for Justice in Palestine was hosting it. The group has been in bad standing as a registered student organization with the university for the past year.
“None of the people there are necessarily affiliated with Students for Justice in Palestine,” said Annabelle, a member of Boulder SJP. She requested to be identified using only her first name due to a fear of retaliation from the university. “These are just students who came to study in that space and also were showing solidarity with the Palestinian people, using messages that were on their own personal computers or that they were wearing on their body.”
Representatives for the College of Engineering and Applied Science ask students participating in a pro-Palestinian “study-in” to disband and leave the Engineering Center lobby around 11 a.m. on Oct. 7, 2025. (Sagan Randall/CU Independent)
Along with Sachs, Keith Molenaar and Medford Moorer, two other deans within the College of Engineering and Applied Science, were also present. All three requested that the students leave the area, citing an email from the dean of student life, which had previously informed the students that this event could not happen.
Annabelle said the email was sent to students whom the university “decided” are attached to Boulder SJP.
Sachs read Cramer’s email aloud to the students participating in the study-in.
“I am writing to you now as you have posted that you are hosting an event in the Engineering Center on Oct. 7, 2025, that violates SJP’s status in bad standing,” Sachs read. “This event is not authorized and therefore will not take place tomorrow in any university facility.”
Annabelle said that the students who attended “were not putting on an event on behalf of SJP but came because they saw the call to come and study.”
The students present at the event also told the deans that they were not affiliated with the group.
“The fact that they were removed has nothing to do with whether or SJP as an organization is in bad standing and has everything to do with the fact that students were showing visual solidarity with Palestine,” Annabelle said.
In addition to those participating in the study-in, many other students in the engineering lobby were also studying. These students were not asked to leave.
Several CU Independent reporters were present at the event. These reporters attended in an official capacity as journalists, not as participants. Moorer approached one CUI photojournalist, stating, “You have to pay me for pictures.”
On Saturday, Moorer provided an emailed statement to the CUI’s staff regarding the interaction.
“I apologize for the comment I made while notifying a student organization that they are not permitted to host an unapproved event at the Engineering Center,” he said. “I misunderstood the photographer’s presence and did not intend to impede upon freedom of the press. I am committed to supporting open dialogue, free expression and the essential role of student journalism on campus.”
It is not clear what capacity Moorer believed the students were present in. No campus rules require student journalists to pay for photographs.
In addition to asking participants to leave, the deans threatened to call campus security and requested the group’s student IDs, which the participants refused to show. Shortly after this, the participants left the building.
Chris Sachs, Assistant Dean for Operations, Facilities and Safety for the College of Engineering and Applied Science (right) asks students participating in a pro-Palestinian “study-in” to disband and leave the Engineering Center lobby around 11 a.m. on Oct. 7, 2025. (Sagan Randall/CU Independent)
On Saturday, CU Spokesperson Nicole Mueksch provided a statement about the study-in.
“On October 7, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), a student organization currently in bad standing for violating university policy, advertised and attempted to hold an event in the Engineering Center lobby. Organizations in bad standing at the University of Colorado Boulder are not permitted to host or cohost events on campus,” Mueksch said. “The Division of Student Life has notified SJP of this policy on several occasions already this semester. SJP has been in bad standing since Fall 2024 because it has failed to remedy policy violations and complete necessary requirements. We have provided copies of the notices to the SJP email address to provide a path for further communication about their standing and have received no response.”
Later on that same day, CU Boulder Marxists hosted a reading-based discussion about the surprise Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023. The group refers to the attacks as the “Al Aqsa Flood.”
“In the 2 years since the Al Aqsa Flood, the pundits and politicians have spilled oceans of ink trying to convince us that violent resistance is either unthinkable or unprecedented,” a CU Marxists Instagram post read.
The discussion was supposed to occur on the University Memorial Center’s rooftop terrace, but the area was closed at 3 p.m.
A sign posted in an elevator announces a closure of the UMC Terrace after a pro-Palestinian student group publicizes plans to host a demonstration there at 5 p.m. on Oct. 7, 2025. (Sagan Randall/CU Independent)
Annabelle, who is both an SJP member and president of CU Marxists, was told by Jamey Lockley, a staff member at the Center for Student Involvement, that the space could not be used to host the meeting if it was not booked in advance. Annabelle then booked a classroom in the Christol Chemistry Building, instead. The group advertised the location change on the CU Boulder Marxists’ Instagram story.
Annabelle said she was later notified that the room booking had been cancelled because of the way the meeting was marketed. Annabelle said that Lockley claimed the Instagram post made the meeting type unclear, and it therefore did not align with how Annabelle described it when booking the room.
“This meeting was marketed like all of our other meetings have been,” Annabelle said. She explained that because this meeting is the first of the group’s to be canceled by the university, she believed it was due to “censorship around the issue of Palestine.”
CU Spokesperson Mueksch gave a statement on Saturday regarding the event location.
“On October 7, CU Boulder Marxists, a recognized student organization (RSO), advertised and attempted to hold an event not properly reserved with the university on the 5th floor of the UMC. Per university policy, all RSO events must be submitted and approved through CU Boulder’s Event Management process, which did not happen in this case,” Mueksch said. “CU Boulder’s Center for Student Involvement clearly communicated with the organization that they were not authorized to hold an event in any campus space on October 7 and shared relevant room reservation policies and information.”
CUPD police officers stand outside Cristol Chemistry moments before escorting students attempting to host a pro-Palestinian demonstration out of the building at approximately 5 p.m. on Oct. 7, 2025. (Sagan Randall/CU Independent)
Upon arrival, CU Boulder safety personnel said the event would not be able to take place, as it was deregistered. Some students then went to sit in a vacant classroom. Mari Rosenfeld, a member of the club, said they did not intend to move the meeting to this room.
D’Andra Mull, the vice chancellor for student life, approached students in the classroom shortly after, telling them to “leave the space.”
Students claimed the discussion was marketed as a meeting to which Mole replied, “You did not market it as a meeting.”
After being told to leave, Mull requested the IDs of students in the classroom. One student provided their Buff One Card, while others left the classroom. Everyone in the classroom and adjacent hallway was escorted out of the building.
Dr. D’Andra Mull, Vice Chancellor for Student Life (left) tells student (middle) to disband a pro-Palestinian demonstration and leave the Cristol Chemistry building at approximately 5 p.m. on Oct. 7, 2025. (Sagan Randall/CU Independent)
Mueksch provided an additional statement regarding the event’s location change.
“When attempting to move the event from the UMC by reserving Chem 140, the CU Boulder Marxists student group misrepresented the type of event as a student group meeting. Events, Planning & Catering emailed them before the event to let them know that it was canceled due to misrepresentation of the type of event. It is recommended that all events are booked at least 10 days in advance to ensure that university processes are followed.”
Annabelle reflected on the incident and questioned why the discussion was shut down, compared to other meetings they’ve hosted in the past.
CUPD escorts students attempting to host a pro-Palestinian demonstration out of the Cristol Chemistry building around 5 p.m. on Oct. 7, 2025. (Sagan Randall/CU Independent)
“It does beg the question (of) whether the reason why this one specifically was targeted is because it’s our first Marxist student collective meeting that is specifically about Palestine,” she said. “It’s interesting because a lot of these other events that have been shut down have been shut down under the justification that Students for Justice in Palestine is not allowed to host events on campus.”
She noted the contrast between CU Students for Justice in Palestine and CU Marxists club, saying the incident could signal a larger issue because the Marxist student collective “hosts events on campus all the time.”
Contact CU Independent News Editor Ainsley Coogan at ainsley.coogan@colorado.edu
Contact CU Independent News Editor Avery Clifton at avery.clifton@colorado.edu
