Administrators at Middlebury College struck a deal Sunday with pro-Palestinian student protesters, who agreed in response to dismantle  an encampment they established on the campus a week earlier. 

Like their counterparts at college encampments across the country, the Middlebury protesters had issued a series of demands, which included divesting the college’s endowment from holdings associated with “Israel’s ongoing military campaign, occupation, and apartheid policies”; ending academic associations with Israeli institutions while cultivating affiliations with Palestinian ones; providing amnesty to student protesters; and calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.

Students participating in the encampment voted Sunday to accept the agreement reached by student negotiators and administrators over the weekend. By Monday afternoon, the encampment had largely been dismantled, with all tents taken down and signs and gear being packed away.

“We’ve secured everything that we are going to get out of the negotiating,” said Oliver Patrick, one of the students who participated in the encampment. “Now our strategy is shifting… We’ve removed the tents, but we move towards a different strategy of putting pressure on other groups.”  

The Middlebury Students for Justice in Palestine wrote in an Instagram post on Monday afternoon that the protest resulted in “significant progress on all 5 demands.” 

A statement issued Monday by Laurie Patton, the college’s president, called for “an immediate ceasefire and an end to the violence.” The statement continued, “We condemn unequivocally the killing of all innocent civilians in Gaza and Israel, where no civil society, including educational institutions, can continue in the midst of such destruction.”

In addressing protesters’ other demands, Patton was more circumspect.

While the administration did not agree to divest from holdings associated with Israel, it pledged “to talk with trustees about sustaining and codifying our investment strategy of not investing in armaments.” The college does not currently hold investments in arms companies, according to Patton’s statement.

Student representatives are also scheduled to meet with the college’s board of trustees this week to discuss opportunities and student support for divestment, according to both the administration and protesters.

“Simultaneously, we’ll likely be putting external pressure on the board of trustees, as well,” Patrick said.  

Patton also wrote that the college would “explore avenues to host all students in the region displaced by war and violence” and “continue its support of organizations working in the region to foster the well-being of all, so that educational institutions can once again thrive.”

The president’s statement did not address ending academic ties with Israeli institutions. However, a press release issued by the encampment protesters Monday afternoon states that student representatives and faculty are collaborating on elements of this initiative. 

“Student representatives and faculty have begun meeting to develop new forms of review for externally funded faculty hires, including but not limited to those from the Israel Institute,” according to the encampment press release. 

The encampment press release also claimed that the administration has agreed not to discipline those involved in the protest, though Jon Reidel, a spokesperson for the college, would neither confirm nor deny that. 

On Monday afternoon, students gathered at the site where the encampment previously stood, repeating chants and listening to student speakers who described the agreement brokered with the administration and encouraged their peers to continue their advocacy work. 

The peaceful resolution of the protests at Middlebury stands in contrast to scenes elsewhere in the nation, where college administrations have cracked down on pro-Palestinian encampments.