April 30, 2024: A Message from the Chancellor — Tent Encampment Peacefully Dismantled

To the UMass Community:

I am pleased to share with you that after the intervention of our campus demonstration response team, protestors who had established an unauthorized tent encampment beside the campus pond have peacefully dismantled it. We are fully in support of the right to free expression and conveyed to participants in the encampment that their protest could continue so long as their tents and structures, which are in violation of the campus land use policy, are removed.

As I said in my campus email yesterday, the land use policy ensures that spaces on campus are made available equally and fairly and that “Activities, programs or events [do] not interfere with official University functions.” In this instance, in addition to there having been no request submitted for the use of this property by those occupying it, the space had already been reserved for a university event, which we were forced to cancel.  

I am grateful to the student activists at the encampment for their cooperation this morning and am also deeply appreciative to the student government representatives (SGA and GSG) and faculty leaders with whom campus leaders and I have consulted over the past 24 hours. This type of consultation and cooperation is emblematic of the robust dialogue and respectful exchange of views that we seek to promote on our campus.

We have and will continue to defend free speech and the free exchange of ideas on this campus. In this instance, once the encampment was dismantled, students gathered and resumed their peaceful protest without incident. This is the sort of outcome we strive for as we navigate these challenging times.

Javier Reyes
Chancellor