What is an encampment protest? Students at UT-Austin join college protests nationwide

Demonstrations against the war between Israel and Hamas have intensified in recent weeks on college campuses throughout the U.S. as students and faculty publicly clash with police.

One tactic used by protestors to make their messages heard is to form encampments on their campuses. Encampments have popped up at colleges across the nation, including Columbia University, George Washington University, Virginia Tech, the University of Texas at Austin and others.

What is a pro-Palestine protest?Here's why U.S. college students are protesting

What is an encampment protest?

Encampment protests occur when demonstrators build temporary communities on their campuses and occupy the areas as a form of political resistance. The communities typically consist of tents and other shelters around which students congregate, organize protests and sleep.

Several universities have claimed encampment protests violate university policies, and police have been called in to break up the encampments on many campuses.

More:Photos, videos of pro-Palestinian encampment at UT show student protest, arrests

What's the encampment protest at UT-Austin for?

The surprise encampment at UT-Austin formed Monday around noon after faculty held a silent vigil for scholasticide, honoring the loss of education life in Gaza. Demonstrators also held a rally for diversity, equity and inclusion on the west side of the UT Tower at 12:15 p.m., according to a Statesman report.

The UT protests:Pride and shame and indelible, embarrassing images | Letters

The encampment follows days of protests on campus. The majority of protestors have made calls for Israel to "free Palestine" and demanded their universities divest from Israeli weapons manufacturers. Smaller demonstrations have been held by pro-Israel groups, who say they have faced an uptick in antisemitism on their campuses.

What is 'divest'?

The word "divest" refers to diverting money from a university's endowment — the pool of money a college has and tries to grow through investments. Some of the biggest university endowments in the country total nearly $50 billion and comprise thousands of funds.

The protesters opposed to Israel's military attacks in Gaza say they want their schools to stop funneling endowment money to Israeli companies and other businesses, like weapons manufacturers, that profit from the war in Gaza.

"The university would rather enforce and put money into policing our communities and policing their own students then they would to supporting them," said Anachí Ponce, a UT student who attended the protest. "These are students who are protesting a genocide and the lack of action from UT administration for the way that they haven't been super helpful against hate crimes against Muslim students on campus."