Portland State Library Occupiers Reject University’s Amnesty Deal
A number of protesters occupying a library at Portland State University rejected a deal to stand down on Wednesday morning, after they found the university president’s offer of legal amnesty questionable, and said she failed entirely to address their demand that the school divest from Boeing.
University president Ann Cudd said that she was given verbal assurances from negotiators working for the protesters inside Millar Library that they would accept her offer, which she said promised protection from suspension and expulsion, as well as criminal charges, if they left the library by 1:30 a.m. However, student organizers ultimately refused to take the deal.
“I fervently wish that the students in the library had signed on to our agreement, but, after their negotiators told us they had a deal, they apparently chose not to sign,” Cudd said, in a letter to the campus community sent on Wednesday morning.