Ellie Park, Photography Editor

On Saturday night, more than 500 protesters gathered in Beinecke Plaza, and at 12:18 a.m., protesters announced that no arrests would be made that night. 

At around 8 p.m., Dean of Yale College Pericles Lewis wrote to the News that students were allowed to be on Beinecke Plaza until 11 p.m. and would not face Yale College discipline if they took their tents home with them at 11 p.m. 

At 10:43 p.m., Associate Dean of Student Affairs Hannah Peck and Associate Dean and Chief of Staff Andrew Forsyth read a message from Lewis and Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Lynn Cooley to protesters over a megaphone that if students did not clear out of Beinecke Plaza and take their belongings with them by 11:30 p.m., then they would risk facing disciplinary action resulting from their occupying of the plaza on Friday and Saturday nights. 

The Undergraduate Regulations detail in Section E that all social functions, organized or private, taking place on University Property must end no later than 11 p.m. on Sunday through Thursday, or 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, with the exception of certain events which may extend to 2 a.m. on weekends with permission from a head of college. 

Section G also states that students who wish to hold outdoor activities or events on Yale property, including Beinecke Plaza, must receive advanced permission from the Office of the Secretary and Vice President of University Life one week prior to the event. An organizer told the News that protesters did not receive permission from administration to set up the encampment.

Dean of Students Melanie Boyd declined request for comment as to what these disciplinary actions would entail, referring the News to the Office of Public Affairs and Communications and the proceedings of the Executive Committee. 

Throughout the night, various Heads of College have stopped by the encampment, including Fahmeed Hyder GRD ’95, Head of Trumbull College; Tina Lu, Head of Pauli Murray College; Paul North, Head of Jonathan Edwards College and Anjelica Gonzalez, Head of Davenport College. 

At 10:58 p.m., organizers claimed in an announcement that “all 14 Heads of College agreed that they do not want us removed.” The News has not been able to independently verify this claim.

There were also pro-Israel counter-protesters present from around 11:32 p.m. to around 12:50 a.m. time, largely remaining on Beinecke Plaza in front of Woodbridge Hall. At peak, about 25 counter-protesters were present. 

Confrontations between pro-divestment protesters and pro-Israel counter-protesters reached a height around 11:39 p.m., when a counter-protester hung an Israeli flag over a wooden art panel that pro-Palestine protesters placed on the plaza earlier in the day. The News obtained a video depicting someone in the crowd pulling the flag off the panel and throwing it into the Noguchi Sculpture Garden, a sunken, walled area in the center of Beinecke Plaza. The video also shows the pro-Israeli counter-protester jumping off of the wall and shoving the person who grabbed the flag while nearby marshals attempted to separate the two individuals.

At around 12:18 a.m., organizers announced that administrators told them that no arrests would be made that night. 

At 12:26 a.m., a pro-Israel counter-protester on Beinecke Plaza shouted, “every single one of you is a murderer” and “evil people” at the pro-divestment protesters. 

The night had a smaller police presence in contrast to the roughly 20 New Haven and Yale Police officers who were present at the protest on Friday night. At one point in the night, one police car was parked on Alexander Walk and another on Grove Street. Later, police presence for the day peaked when three police cars parked on Alexander Walk at around 12:30 p.m. 

At the end of the night, at least 40 tents remained on Beinecke Plaza, with around 100 students present, and organizers encouraged pro-divestment protestors leaving to exit in pairs and not engage with counter-protestors. 

“Tomorrow night will be even higher risk than tonight was,” an organizer said over a megaphone. “The Yale administration does not want us to occupy Beinecke Plaza during the week. They don’t want to have to face us.”

–Yolanda Wang and Karla Cortes, Staff Reporters; Sarah Cook, University Editor

12:52 a.m.:

An organizer of the encampment, who requested anonymity due to safety concerns,  told the News that the group will be staying on Beinecke Plaza overnight and reiterated that they would continue their encampment on the Plaza until Yale meets their demands for disclosure and divestment.

The organizer praised the support they received when asked about administrators’ threat of disciplinary action to protesters remaining on the plaza after 11:30 p.m.

“I think it’s amazing that the Yale community rallied to keep each other safe,” the organizer said.

When asked about the counter-protest that was held on the plaza near the entrance to Alexander Walk, the organizer told the News that “my priority is to keep our protests peaceful. I support everyone’s right to free speech.” 

At least 100 pro-divestment organizers remain on the plaza, most gathered around the tent encampment where they are playing music and dancing. Many of the protesters are in the tents. The counter-protesters near Alexander Walk have begun to disperse.

– Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor

12:43 a.m.:

There are at least 40 tents currently up on Beinecke Plaza. Around 25 of the tents have been up since Friday night. Organizers are currently setting up more tents.

— Sarah Cook, University Editor, and Karla Cortes, Staff Reporter

12:33 a.m.:

At least 200 protesters have left Beinecke Plaza after organizers ended their call-and-response chants. 

— Yolanda Wang, Staff Reporter

12:27 a.m.:

The News has obtained a video showing the student whose Israeli flag was thrown into Noguchi Sculpture Garden. The video shows the student draping the flag over a wooden poster put on the plaza by pro-Palestine protesters while filming the crowd. Then, the video shows someone in the crowd pulling the flag off the poster and the student jumping off the ledge on which they were standing and shoving the individual who had grabbed the flag.

– Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor  

12:26 a.m.:

After announcing that there would be no arrests, organizers are leading call-and-response chants with the crowd. The organizers started by reiterating their demands for Yale to disclose and divest from its holdings in military weapons manufacturers.

The chants also included calls for protesters to show up again on Sunday, to bring friends to the protest and to send messages to administrators demanding Yale disclose and divest.

“Tomorrow night will be even higher risk than tonight was,” an organizer said over a megaphone. “The Yale administration does not want us to occupy Beinecke Plaza during the week. They don’t want to have to face us.”

Finally, organizers warned pro-divestment protesters not to engage with pro-Israel counter-protesters and to exit the plaza with a “buddy.”

Meanwhile, a pro-Israel counter-protester at the entrance of Beinecke Plaza shouted, “every single one of you is a murderer” and “evil people” at the pro-divestment protesters.

— Yolanda Wang and Adam Walker, Staff Reporters

12:18 a.m.

Organizers have announced to the crowd that administrators told them there will be no arrests tonight. The announcement was met with cheers from the protesters.

– Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor, and Yolanda Wang, Staff Reporter

12:17 a.m.:

Pro-Israel counter-protesters are playing music from a speaker at the entrance to Beinecke Plaza from Alexander Walk. The counter-protesters are also singing the United States national anthem.

— Yolanda Wang and Jane Park, Staff Reporters

12:11 a.m.

A protester with a megaphone is praising student performance groups — Sabrosura, Tangled Up In Blue and Whim ‘n Rhythm — that did not perform at University President Peter Salovey’s celebratory dinner last night in the Schwarzman Center. The protester did not mention the groups by name.

– Jane Park, Staff Reporter

12:02 a.m.:

Over 500 pro-divestment protesters have now encircled the flagpole and tents around the encampment.  They are chanting “Disclose, divest, we will not stop we will not rest,” and “What do we tell the trustees? If there’s no justice, there’s no peace.”

On Saturday afternoon, a group of protesters missed trustees exiting a Yale Corporation meeting by less than 10 minutes.

– Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor 

11:58 p.m.:

About 17 students are singing Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem, as well as Am Yisrael Chai, a Jewish solidarity anthem, at the entrance to Beinecke Plaza from Alexander Walk. 

— Yolanda Wang, Staff Reporter

11:54 p.m.:

Protesters are holding hands and forming a large ring around most of Beinecke Plaza. They continue to sing “Down by the riverside.” There are still no police on Alexander Walk.

– Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor, and Adam McPhail, Sci-Tech Editor

11:52 p.m.:

A group of about 10 people has gathered at the entrance of Beinecke Plaza from Alexander Walk. Two of them wore Israeli flags tied as capes. Another one of the students in the group is the student whose Israeli flag was thrown into the Noguchi Sculpture Garden.

— Yolanda Wang and Ariela Lopez, Staff Reporters

11:47 p.m.

Protesters have moved back up on the steps in front of the Schwarzman Center where the tent encampment is located. They continue to sing “We shall not be moved.” The News estimates that there are more than 500 people on Beinecke Plaza right now.  

– Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor

11:39 p.m.

An undergraduate student who was waving an Israeli flag while standing on top of the wall around Noguchi Sculpture Garden at the center of Beinecke Plaza told the News that someone in the crowd threw the flag over the wall and into the sculpture garden. The flag is still located in the sculpture garden.

The student, who requested anonymity due to safety concerns, approached a Yale Security officer standing on Alexander Walk. “I told [Yale Security] to get the police, I want my flag back,” the student said. 

– Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor, and Yolanda Wang, Staff Reporter

11:38 p.m.

There are no police near the plaza. The officers in the car on the Alexander Walk has driven away.

– Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor

11:32 p.m.

Two apparent counter-protesting Yale undergraduate students walked into a group of protesters on the plaza and began recording the protesters. Protesters began using umbrellas, blankets and flags to hide their faces and obstruct the view of the student’s camera. One student then began waving an Israeli flag.

– Khuan-Yu Hall, City Editor

11:30 p.m.

It is now 11:30 p.m., the deadline administrators gave for protesters to vacate the plaza and remove all tents and belongings. The protesters have not left. The crowd has grown to more than 300 since the announcement, and protesters continue to sing “Down by the Riverside.”

–Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor

11:24 p.m.: 

An organizer of the encampment told the News that after administrators’ announcement “the plan is to continue to occupy until Yale discloses and divests.”

– Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor

11:05 p.m.:

Dozens of students are arriving at Beinecke Plaza to join the protest following the announcement of possible disciplinary action from Peck and Forsyth. There are currently over 300 protesters on the plaza. It is still unclear whether protesters intend to stay on the plaza past 11:30 p.m. There is currently one Yale police car on Alexander Walk.

— Yolanda Wang, Adam Walker and Tristan Hernandez, Staff Reporters

10:58 p.m.:

Organizers led protesters to repeat after them an announcement stating that “Tonight, all 14 Heads of College agreed that they do not want us removed. Additionally, we have been informed that there will be multiple warnings before arrest, police will only come if we fail to remain peaceful.” 

— Karla Cortes, Staff Reporter

10:43 p.m.:

Associate Dean of Student Affairs Hannah Peck and Associate Dean and Chief of Staff in Yale College Andrew Forsythe read a message on behalf of Pericles Lewis, Dean of Yale College and Lynn Cooley, Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. They told the protesters that if they do not leave Beinecke Plaza and remove the tents by 11:30 p.m., students “may be subjected to disciplinary action.” 

11:30 p.m. is 30 minutes past the 11 p.m. cut-off for disciplinary action Lewis previously outlined when writing to the News around 8 p.m. 

“If you leave tonight by 11:30 p.m., taking your tents and your belongings with you, Yale College and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences will not discipline you for your actions yesterday and today. You need to leave by 11:30 p.m., taking your things with you,” Peck said. “If you stay past 11:30, you may be subject to discipline. You are welcome to come back in the morning, without your tents, to resume your protest, but you need to be gone by 11:30 p.m. tonight.” 

The two University officials told the News they do not know what the disciplinary action may be. They declined to provide any further comments. Dean of Students Melanie Boyd also declined to provide comment, referring the News to the proceeds of the Executive Committee and the Office of Public Affairs and Communications. 

Patrick Hayes ’24 told the crowd that “it is your decision” whether demonstrators would like to remain overnight or come back the next morning. He then led the crowd in chanting, “What do we tell the trustees? If there’s no justice there’s no peace.” and “shut it down.” Organizers also asked the crowd to text their friends to come to the plaza. 

— Yolanda Wang, Yurii Stasiuk, Jane Park and Karla Cortes, Staff Reporters

10:33 p.m.:

At least six students in formal attire entered Beinecke Plaza. One student held an American flag and approached the pro-divestment protesters while two others placed down a speaker playing the national anthem. 

Marshals created a wall between the protesters and the group of six. 

Some pro-divestment protesters brought large art panels to hold while around 100 students chanted slogans such as “we demand that Yale divest” and “get up, get down, we’re anti-war in this town” at the group.

Aaron Schorr ’24, a member of the group, told the News that the students were “concerned with the desecration of the American flag.” Schorr referred to the pro-divestment protesters’ removal of the American flag from the flagpole in Beinecke Plaza on Friday night.

Schorr also told the News that the students in the group “as a collective was not there to counter-protest.”

— Yolanda Wang, Staff Reporter

10:17 p.m.:

The News will pause updates until closer to 11:00 p.m., the time after which Yale College Dean Pericles Lewis told the News that protesters could face disciplinary action if they maintain the encampment. Three organizers declined to comment in reaction to Lewis’ statement. 

At last night’s protest, no students faced arrests or disciplinary action, per Lewis, though one person was detained. The News could not confirm whether this individual was a Yale student.

 A Yale Police sergeant has arrived on Beinecke Plaza, joining the Yale Police officers who have been parked on Alexander Walk for the past several hours. The police presence is still noticeably lower than at the same time last night

Throughout the night, various Heads of College have stopped by the encampment, including Fahmeed Hyder GRD ’95, Head of Trumbull College; Tina Lu, Head of Pauli Murray College; Paul North, Head of Jonathan Edwards College and Anjelica Gonzalez, Head of Davenport College.

— Yolanda Wang, Staff Reporter

9:49 p.m.:

The police presence has not changed on the plaza since the afternoon. One Yale Police car is stationed on Alexander Walk near the plaza, while another car is parked on Grove Street. There are no visible uniformed Yale police officers outside near the protesters, and the News could not identify any officers inside the Schwarzman Center either.

This stands in contrast to last night, where at 10 p.m. the News reported there were at least 20 police officers on both sides of the Schwarzman Center.  

– Adam McPhail, Sci-Tech Editor and Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor

9:30 p.m.: 

Resty Fufunan ’24 announced that Filipino students on the plaza have joined to perform a traditional Philippine folk dance known as Tinikling which involves sliding bamboo poles. Protesters met the performance with cheers

— Karla Cortes, Staff Reporter

9:18 p.m.:

An unidentified man has started to sing the Star Spangled Banner. In response, protesters are drowning him out with the song “Down by the Riverside.” 
– Karla Cortes, Staff Reporter

9:06 p.m.: 

Approximately 150 protesters among others are currently on the plaza chanting “Free, free, Palestine,” “One solution, revolution,” and “Yale, Yale pick a side, ceasefire or genocide.” 

Earlier, Nada Chater, a worker at Mamoun’s Falafel who is not affiliated with the organizers, led the demonstrators in the “From the River to the Sea” refrain four times. In an interview with the News, Chater said that Mamoun’s Falafel donated additional food to the protesters. 

– Karla Cortes, Staff Reporter

8:12 p.m.:

On Friday night, more than 25 tents remained on Beinecke Plaza overnight. However, tonight, if students keep their tents past 11 p.m., which some plan to do, they may face disciplinary action, per Dean of Yale College Pericles Lewis. 

“All I can really say is that students are allowed to be on Beinecke plaza until 11, and that if they take their tents home with them at 11 they won’t face Yale College discipline,” Lewis wrote to the News. 

The Undergraduate Regulations detail in Section E that all social functions, organized or private, that take place on University Property must end no later than 11 p.m. on Sunday through Thursday, or 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, with the exception of certain events which may extend to 2 a.m. on weekends with permission from a head of college. 

Lewis told the News on Friday night that he offered to meet with a group of lead organizers of Occupy Beinecke, if they packed up their tents, but they declined the offer. Organizers told the News on Friday night that they would only consider dispersing if granted an open meeting with the Corporation Committee on Investor Responsibility, which recommends investment policy to the full Corporation.

– Sarah Cook, University Editor, and Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor

8:02 p.m.:

Organizers announced over a megaphone that they intended to camp out on Beinecke Plaza for a second night. They encouraged community members who had not slept over the prior night to come to the front for blankets and supplies.

— Yolanda Wang, Staff Reporter, and Miranda Wollen, University Editor

8:00 p.m.:

Protestors calling on Yale to divest from military weapons manufacturers are settling in for the second night of their encampment on Beinecke Plaza. Dean of Yale College Pericles Lewis wrote to the News around 8 p.m. that if students kept their tents up past 8 p.m. they could face disciplinary action. 

This comes after approximately 75 protesters stayed overnight in more than 25 tents protestors erected on the plaza on Friday night. On Saturday morning, approximately 65 protesters marched from the encampment up Prospect Street to confront trustees of the Yale Corporation, who were holding their last scheduled meeting before the end of the academic term.  The protesters arrived at Greenberg Conference Center at 12:54 p.m., missing the opportunity to confront trustees on their lack of support for divesting from weapons manufacturers. The University announced on Wednesday that it would not divest from military weapons manufacturers. The protestors arrived less than 10 minutes after the trustees departed. 

The protesters remained at the conference center to chant and sing for about 20 minutes before returning to Beinecke Plaza, where about 150 people remained throughout the afternoon to watch student performances and share food. 

On Friday, over 400 protesters gathered at the demonstration’s peak outside of the Schwarzman Center, where a celebratory dinner was being held for University President Peter Salovey. The afternoon saw escalated action even before the students began to set up tents, as protesters attempted to confront trustees entering the building.

At one point, students attempted to confront Salovey as he entered Schwarzman through a side entrance, meeting him with expletives as well as chants such as “free, free Palestine” and “hey hey, ho ho, there’s blood on your portfolio.” The continued encampment is part of a week of action on the plaza, including an eight-day hunger strike with at least 14 participants and daily student sit-ins that started on Monday.

— Nathaniel Rosenberg, City Editor and Yolanda Wang, Staff Reporter

7:40 p.m.:

About 60 people gathered on the side of Beinecke Plaza in front of the colonnade of Schwarzman Center to pray Maghrib. 

— Yolanda Wang, Staff Reporter

7:15 p.m.:

Two protesters started to lead chants such as “Globalize the intifada,” “There is only one solution, intifada revolution” and “Resistance is justified when people are occupied.” An organizer told the News that these chants are not “sanctioned” by the coalition mainly responsible for organizing the week of protests on Beinecke Plaza. It is unclear whether the protesters leading the chant are students. 

— Yolanda Wang, Staff Reporter

5:55 p.m.:

A protester has taped up a poster reading “WELCOME 2 GAZA PLAZA” on the south-facing wall of Noguchi Sculpture Garden next to the Beinecke Library. The poster joins at least 60 other signs, stickers and posters placed on the wall. 

Other signs include messages such as “Yale’s legacy already drips with the blood of the oppressed – can we change?” and “@Yale – why teach me about colonialism and then punish me for speaking against it?” Another poster asks for donations of e-sim cards to Palestinians in Gaza.

“From Baekdu to Halla, from the river to the sea, Koreans and Palestinians for liberation,” another sign reads in Korean with an English translation written at the bottom. According to Mark Chung ’25, a protester who wrote the sign, “Baekdu” refers to the Baekdu mountain, which is located along the Chinese-Korean border. “Halla” refers to the Hallasan volcano located in Jeju island. 

The message overall mirrors a popular pro-Palestine chant, “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and it refers to a call for “the decolonization of the Korean peninsula,” per Chung. A Korean Unification Flag is also taped onto the flagpole. 

— Yolanda Wang and Emily Khym, Staff Reporters