'On Siemens Hall Hill' How an eight-day occupation at Cal Poly Humboldt divided campus

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'On Siemens Hall Hill'

How an eight-day occupation at Cal Poly Humboldt divided campus

Thadeus Greenson, North Coast Journal, May 2, 2024

When a group of several dozen protesters entered Siemens Hall on the Cal Poly Humboldt campus shortly before 5 p.m. on April 22, they say they had no intention of grinding the university's operations to a halt. Standing on the campus quad, which was barricaded on all sides with makeshift blockades crafted out of segments of fencing, chairs, tables, dumpsters, newspaper racks, picnic benches and other debris chained together, a woman who would only identify herself as Trillium says the plan had been to start with a seder dinner.

Trillium says a "big group" had gotten together the day before, wanting to plan some kind of action that would draw attention to the growing humanitarian crisis in the war in Gaza. Because a number of the group members are Jewish, Trillium says they supported the idea of doing something to coincide with the Passover holiday that would bring awareness to the ongoing war and the devastation it was causing, and show people of multiple faiths standing together in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

So they entered the building with matzah ball soup, bitter herbs and other components of the meal.

"We were planning to have a sit-in, an open occupation," Trillium says, noting that, as they envisioned it, the direct action wouldn't encroach on classrooms and would leave the building open for students and administrators to come and go. "I went out to get supplies and when I came back, there was a riot squad outside."

much more at: https://www.northcoastjournal.com/news/on-siemens-hall-hill-29624849