University of New Mexico
Administration ignored university policies, failed to protect Jewish students
University of New Mexico
Administration ignored university policies, failed to protect Jewish students
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UNM Encampment
Harassment of Jews, Support for Hamas
On April 22, 2024, anti-Israel protesters set up an illegal encampment at the University of New Mexico (UNM) in Albuquerque, demanding that the university cut ties with companies connected to Israel.
The encampment was primarily organized by the University of New Mexico Divestment Coalition, a group composed of the UNM College Democrats, Law Students Against Imperialism and 37 other student organizations and advocacy groups, some of which are not formally affiliated with UNM.
The encampment was the culmination of a campaign against the Jewish state as well as against the university’s Jewish students that began when Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 and kidnapping 250 more.
Despite the fact that protesters violated a host of university policies – including camping on campus, erecting unsafe structures, restricting access of other students, harassment, use of drugs and alcohol, public urination and defecation, and vandalism – the university failed to take action against the protesters for close to a month.
This was not surprising considering the lack of action by the university to date in addressing the severe targeting of Jewish students on campus (see “Harassment of Jewish Students” below).
Student Union Building Takeover
During the first few days of the encampment, UNM police visited the site to notify protesters that they were in violation of university policy. However, except for confiscating a few tents, no action was taken during this time.
The protest significantly escalated on April 29, 2024, when a group of 300 demonstrators gathered in the early evening at the encampment before marching to the Student Union Building which they intended to occupy until their demands were met. Graffiti was simultaneously spray-painted across campus.
Once inside the building, protesters barricaded the doors, blocked staircases, damaged the premises and graffitied walls, bannisters and bathrooms. Protesters then filled the second floor with tents, food and supplies.
Students studying in the building were verbally harassed.
Protesters sealed the entrances of their tents with zip-ties and chained the tents to the second-floor railing. Anticipating arrest, some filled out forms with their names and emergency contact information on them.
By 11 p.m., close to 29 police cars belonging to the UNM Police Department and the New Mexico State Police were staged a few minutes away outside the building. At 3 a.m., police arrived and informed protesters they had 30 minutes to leave before being charged with criminal trespassing.
Protesters responded by barricading the doors with couches, tables and chairs.
Shortly before 3:30 a.m., close to 20 state police officers in riot gear entered the building and were met by protesters with arms linked and holding plastic storage container lids for shields.
By the end of the operation, 16 protesters had been arrested, including five university students. All the arrestees were charged with criminal trespass and wrongful use of public property. Only one protester was charged with criminal trespass involving damage.
Faculty Statement of Solidarity
The following day, May 1, 2024, the United Academics of UNM, the faculty union, circulated a statement in solidarity with students who had participated in the Student Union occupation and the ongoing encampment.
The initiative – which was led by Jennifer Tucker, an associate professor at the School of Architecture & Planning – garnered 225 signatures from faculty and staff in 24 hours.
Jennifer Tucker [Jennifer L. Tucker] expressed "solidarity" with the pro-Hamas encampment at the University of New Mexico (UNM), and is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Tucker's anti-Israel activism occurred during Israel’s war against Hamas, which Israel launched after the October 7, 2023, terror attacks when Hamas murdered nearly 1,200 Israelis, injured thousands and kidnapped hundreds.
In May 2024, Tucker was involved in a UNM faculty union initiative in support of the 16 anti-Israel protesters who were arrested on April 30, 2024, at the UNM pro-Hamas encampment.
The protesters were charged with “criminal trespassing and wrongful use of public property” for vandalizing UNM property, occupying a campus building and verbally harassing students. They had been warned to leave the building or risk arrest.
As of January 2025, Jennifer Tucker was listed as a member of the UNM Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine (UNMFSJP).
As of July 2025, Jennifer Tucker was listed as an associate professor of community and regional planning at UNM's School of Architecture and Planning.
UNM is located in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The statement framed the building takeover and encampment as the “students’ rights to free speech, activism, and political action” and called for all “an end to the harassment and police raids on students at the UNM Palestine Solidarity Encampment.”
The statement further contested UNM President Garnett Stokes' characterization of the student protesters as engaging in criminal acts. It urged the administration to “de-escalate their response towards students exercising their First Amendment rights” and use “restraint in meting out discipline.”
In a further gesture of solidarity, the UNM Faculty & Staff Divestment Working Group invited the public to a Teach-In & Art-Build at the encampment the following weekend.
Protesters Released; Encampment Continues
By May 2, 2024, all 16 protesters arrested in the Student Union Building takeover had been released from detention.
Despite the building takeover by encampment participants, the administration shockingly allowed the encampment to continue unimpeded for another two weeks.
Finally, on May 14, 2024, citing numerous violations of university policy, the administration issued an ultimatum to protesters to dismantle the encampment by 5 p.m. or face consequences.
The same day, the administration acquiesced to the protesters and agreed to meet with members of the encampment’s organizing group, UNM Divestment Coalition.
At the meeting, the group reiterated its demands that the university disclose its financial holdings and divest from any companies connected to Israel by August 2024. In response, UNM President Garnett Stokes promised that the university would research its investment portfolio and publicly disclose the information by that date. (See “Divest Investigation” below)
Encampment Dismantlement
The 5 p.m. deadline set by the administration came and went with no action taken. Meanwhile, protesters reinforced the encampment. Twelve hours later, at 5 a.m., UNM staff delivered written notices signed by Stokes to leave within the hour.
Police arrived at 6 a.m. and encouraged protesters to leave, which many did. Protesters who remained gradually moved out. Seven protesters, including two students, refused to comply and were arrested for criminal trespass and wrongful use of public property.
Charges Dropped
In November and December 2024, all criminal charges were dropped against the 21 students and outside agitators arrested at the UNM encampment and occupation of the Student Union Building.
The majority of cases dismissed were part of a plea agreement, under which “individuals agreed that their cases would be dismissed after a specified period of time if they did not commit any further violations of the law.”
Despite the monetary loss caused by the vandalism of university property, including the damage to furniture and fixtures at the Student Union, the presiding judge dismissed the charges with prejudice, meaning a lawsuit against the protesters may not be brought before a court again.
It was a fitting end to the feckless response by the administration during the 26-day disruptive, destructive and illegal pro-Hamas protests that broke a myriad of university policies and threatened the safety of Jewish students.
Although no information is publicly available as to whether any of the arrested students faced academic consequences, the administration’s statement after learning that the charges were dropped against all the arrested students suggests that it is unlikely.
“UNM’s intent is to enforce the law and our policies using an educational approach, allowing those who were charged the opportunity to understand that their actions violated the law and to learn from their actions without the charge going on their permanent record,” the university said in a statement.
Harassment of Jewish Students
In December 2024, UNM student Nicole Osbourne penned a powerful essay describing the horrific reality for Jewish students at UNM post-October 7.
“The statement ‘as a Jew’ is a frequent phrase on the campus of the University of New Mexico. In April, it littered the Student Union Building in the form of graffiti, “As a Jew, I support Palestine,” was found scrawled across the wall. Immediately next to it, other phrases including “globalize the intifada,” and “from the river to the sea”, were inscribed supporting the removal of all Israelis and Jewish people from Israel.
“This phrase identified the right way to be a Jew in the mind of university students. A good Jew is an anti-Zionist Jew, one who conforms and bows to the opinions of others. All Jewish students who refused to condemn the country of Israel faced being labeled as a ‘bad Jew’. Following October 2023, this insidious idea of a good Jew permeated UNM’s community, in the classroom, in student organizations, and above all in daily social interaction.”
Osbourne wrote how Jewish students lost friends, positions within school organizations and respect from their peers for associating with Judaism or being from Israel. She wrote how classmates “quickly decided it was necessary to announce how much they detested Zionism, Israel, and the religion of Judaism itself.”
Osbourne described how she and her partner, who wears a yarmulka, always prayed while on campus that no one would spit at their feet, which they did; how Jewish students passed students wearing keffiyehs who looked into their eyes “with a glare that warns you ‘you are less than human.’”
“For the past year now,” she related, “every grievance with the country of Israel is taken out on the Jewish students of the University of New Mexico. I cannot prevent the dread and fear which it inspired within me.”
Osbourne chronicled the frightening post-October 7 scene at UNM:
“The first time a pro-Palestine protest occurred on our campus, men in large jackets carried umbrellas … There was no rain, and the umbrellas were held with their sharp ends pointed outwards. This became the norm.
“The protests are not student led, and often bring numerous unaffiliated adults to the campus. Jewish students’ campus life quickly revolved around warning each other of upcoming walk-outs, areas to avoid, and which days were just better for staying inside our dorm rooms. We shared stories of professors who spout propaganda and conspiracies like “Jewish supremacy” or allowing our peers to give speeches about “Is-not-real” during class. (As the word Israel is not even pronounced.)”
Gal Arad, a junior from Israel and star athlete studying at UNM on a scholarship, felt so unsafe on campus that he asked to be sent home. The university complied, buying him a ticket back to Israel at the end of the spring semester.
Commenting on the situation at the university, Arad said, “I have no complaints against the University of New Mexico for sending me back to Israel. The university acted generously towards me and ensured my safety.
However, I do criticize the university for failing to prevent riots stemming from ignorance and fake news, which lead innocent American students to support a terrorist organization, creating an unsafe atmosphere for Jewish and Israeli students.”
On April 2, 2024, Arad entered his name in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Transfer Portal, which effectively canceled his scholarship at UNM.
Until the October 7 attack, Arad described UNM as a “warm home for high-level studies and training.” Six months later, Arad said he would not return and was looking for another university to finish his degree.
Divestment Investigation
In August 2024, at a Board of Regents meeting, the university released information about its investment portfolio as promised. However, the list consisted of broad securities categories and did not specify individual investments or company names, provoking the ire of UNM Divestment Coalition and UNM Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine members.
At the meeting, the Divestment Coalition requested that the board adopt a resolution calling for a Gaza ceasefire, full investment disclosure and divestment from companies tied to Israel. However, the board did not put these items up for a vote.
The administration and a number of regents argued, instead, that the university should remain neutral on political issues and focus on maximizing investment returns for the good of the university.
The board subsequently removed the divestment item from their December 2024 meeting agenda.
