The Brief

As the latest wave of pro-Palestinian demonstrations at U.S. colleges stretches into a third week, some campuses are seeing rising tensions while others have gone relatively quiet.

Administrations at several schools have reached agreements with student protesters, pledging to take certain steps in exchange for the dismantling of protesters' encampments as graduation approaches.

Protesters' demands vary by school, though they generally call for an end to the Israel-Hamas war, disclosures of institutional investments and divestment from companies with ties to Israel or that otherwise profit from its military operation in Gaza.

Northwestern and Brown were the first schools to announce agreements last week, followed quickly by others including Rutgers, Johns Hopkins, the University of Minnesota and the University of California, Riverside.

Some administrations, like those at Columbia University and UCLA, ultimately called in police to forcibly take down student encampments. But others managed to clear their lawns of tents without police intervention — through negotiations with student organizers.

"We thought the best way to sustainably deescalate the situation was to actually talk with our students," Northwestern President Michael Schill told WBUR's Here and Now. "We have a good sustainable agreement which provides a number of things that the students wanted and that we wanted to do."

Northwestern's agreement, for instance, permits peaceful demonstrations — though no tents — through the end of classes on June 1, gives students representation on an investment committee and pledges to bring Palestinian students to campus, among other commitments.

None of the schools outright committed to divest from Israel. But they say they will provide more transparency around their endowments and limit disciplinary action against students, among other commitments. Several also pledged scholarships or aid for Palestinian students and improved space for Muslim students on campus.

Not all activists are satisfied with the terms of their deals, but many are celebrating the agreements as incremental steps in a long-running fight for divestment that, at many schools, far predates Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel and Israel's ensuing response.

"When it comes to the actual momentum that this agreement gives us, I cannot emphasize enough how huge it is," said Lucas, a Northwestern student who asked to only use his first name because of concerns about online harassment.

Some leaders at other schools are now looking to these as an example.

That's the case at Wesleyan University, where President Michael Roth — who previously said the school's encampment could continue as long as it remained peaceful — warned Thursday that vandalism and reports of harassment could result in legal and disciplinary consequences.

"We do not want to move in this direction unless necessary and much prefer to talk with protesters about things we can do as an institution to address the war in Gaza," Roth wrote. "Recent agreements at Brown University and Northwestern University might show the way."

Here's a look at how four schools made it to the bargaining table, and what they're promising protesters next.

Northwestern

Tents, flags and other supplies remain at Deering Meadow on Northwestern University's campus in Evanston, Ill., on April 30, a day after the university and protest organizers reached an agreement.

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Melissa Perez Winder

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Northwestern's tent encampment lasted for five days before the school reached an agreement with students.

Protesters set up an encampment on Deering Meadow on Northwestern's Evanston, Ill., campus on April 25, to show support for Palestinians and urge the university to disclose — and cut — its financial ties to Israeli companies they say are complicit in the war in Gaza.

The protest drew a large police presence over several days, but attempts by university police to break up the encampment and arrest participants were unsuccessful, in part because faculty members physically blocked their path.

As the protest grew and a sizable pro-Israel counterprotest formed, university leadership engaged in conversations with what they described as a "group of students and faculty who represent the majority of the protestors on Deering Meadow."

On April 29, they announced that they had reached an agreement.

"This agreement was forged by the hard work of students and faculty working closely with members of the administration to help ensure that the violence and escalation we have seen elsewhere does not happen here at Northwestern," university leaders wrote in a note to the community.

The agreement permits peaceful demonstrations on Deering Meadow through June 1, limited to Northwestern community members and no sound amplification devices or tents except for one aid tent. The university also pledged to reestablish its Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility this fall, with representation from students, faculty and staff.

It will also fund the cost of attendance for five Palestinian undergraduates (and fundraise for more), provide "immediate temporary space for MENA/Muslim students" and engage students in a process to ensure additional support for Jewish and Muslim community members.

Some Jewish groups have taken issue with the terms of the agreement, which they say leaves Jewish students feeling unsafe. Northwestern is now facing two lawsuits, one from students and one from an outside anti-affirmative affirmative action group.

Seven members of the President's Advisory Committee on Preventing Antisemitism and Hate stepped down after the agreement was announced, citing Schill's decision not to consult it during negotiations.

A coalition of outside groups issued a statement calling for Schill's resignation in response to the "reprehensible and dangerous agreement." Separately, the American Jewish Committee accused Northwestern of "succumbing to the demands of a mob which has intimidated Jewish students, espoused antisemitic, hate-filled speech, and whose members have celebrated Hamas terrorists."

Schill, who is Jewish, defended the agreement in an April 30 video in which he acknowledged and condemned incidents of antisemitism at the encampment, including a poster showing him with devil horns, an antisemitic trope. And he told Here & Now that the ban on tents and megaphones aims to make Jewish students feel more safe on campus.

"I do take issue with calling our students a mob," he added. "They're students, they're young, they're sometimes naïve, they're learning — and so the best way for us to engage and achieve our educational mission is for us to engage in dialogue with them."

Several student groups involved in the protest have issued statements of support for the agreement and pledged to keep fighting for a ceasefire and divestment.

In fact, some have already followed up on one promise of the agreement: They've emailed Northwestern requesting more information about its investments in companies with ties to Israel, and are expecting a response within 30 days.

Brown University

Protesters at Brown University took down their encampment after a deal was reached on April 30, setting up a divestment vote in the fall.

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Brown University President Christina Paxson announced an agreement between the administration and student protesters on April 30, six days after they began their encampment on its Providence, R.I., campus.

"Students agreed to end the encampment and refrain from further actions that would violate Brown's conduct code through the end of the academic year, which includes Commencement and Reunion Weekend," she said.

No protesters were arrested as part of that demonstration, though dozens of students had been arrested in pro-Palestinian, pro-divestment actions earlier this year, including an eight-day hunger strike in February.

Students with the Brown Divest Coalition had two central demands for the university, Isabella Garo told All Things Considered. She was one of the six students involved in negotiations with two administrators.

The first was to present a long-tabled 2020 advisory committee report — recommending divestment from Israeli occupation — to the university corporation for a vote. The second was to drop charges against the 41 students arrested at a December sit-in.

Per the agreement, students cleared out of their encampment by 5 p.m. that day. In exchange, the Corporation of Brown University will invite five students to speak with a group of five of its members — including the chair of the investment committee — about the 2020 report during its May meeting.

It will not add divestment to its May agenda. But separately, Paxson will request an advisory committee provide her with advice on divestment by Sept. 30 and put it on the agenda for the corporation's October meeting.

"I feel strongly that a vote in October, either for or against divestment, will bring clarity to an issue that is of long-standing interest to many members of our community," Paxson said in the announcement.

The agreement also stipulates that students involved in the encampments must go through the university's conduct proceedings, but guarantees that no student will be suspended or expelled for their participation.

Garo said campus responses to the agreement vary.

"Some people are just relieved that there's finally movement in this campaign," she said. "Some people never liked the protests in the first place and are simply relieved the encampment is gone. There's also some people who have expressed some disappointment — they wanted to see divestment outright."

The next step for student activists, she said, is mobilizing in the lead-up to the October corporation. She doesn't know yet what that will look like — and, as a graduating senior, won't be on campus in the fall to help.

"But I'm confident in the ability of my fellow activists to do the work and to do it right," she said.

Rutgers

Rutgers University students occupy tents and hold rallies outside Murray Hall in New Brunswick, N.J., as part of their protest in support of Palestinians affected by the war in Gaza on April 30.

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Students and administrators at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., came to an agreement on May 2.

After a rally that morning forced the school to postpone more than two dozen final exams, it gave protesters a 4 p.m. deadline to take down their encampment — which they set up on April 29 — or else be arrested.

NJ Spotlight News reported that some students prepared to be arrested, setting up a jail support system and readying their phone cameras.

But within an hour of the deadline, the administration offered up a revised proposal — and student organizers accepted it. They began clearing their tents just in time.

Announcing the deal later that day, university officials credited "constructive dialogue between the protesting students and our leadership teams," saying it opened the door for ongoing dialogue to address the needs of its sizable Arab, Muslim and Palestinian student body.

A coalition of student groups advocating for divestment from Israel presented 10 demands to the administration. The school agreed to eight of them but declined to divest from companies doing business in Israel and terminate its partnership with Tel Aviv University.

"Such decisions fall outside of our administrative scope," wrote Chancellor Francine Conway. "However, following our established university policies, the divestment request is under review."

Rutgers did agree to accept 10 displaced Palestinian students on scholarship, develop a plan for an Arab Cultural Center on campus, explore scholarly exchanges with a university in Ramallah and consider creating a Department of Middle East Studies, to name a few.

The agreement doesn't have unequivocal support: The New Jersey regional director of the American Jewish Committee condemned it as "short-sighted" and a "capitulation."

But the Endowment Justice Collective said in an Instagram statement that it was proud of what it had achieved — without student arrests or suspensions — and determined to keep working towards its divestment goals.

"Our decision to end our encampment without achieving these demands reflects our strategic logic regarding building power on campus by laying structural groundwork to not only grow our ranks but shift the political climate across Rutgers," they wrote.

University of Minnesota

Protesters at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus reached an agreement with the administration on Thursday, capping off a tumultuous few weeks.

Police cleared an antiwar encampment on the day it was set up on April 23, arresting nine people in the process. Students continued to protest, including reestablishing an encampment on April 29 as they called on the school to divest from weapons manufacturers and companies tied to the Israeli military, and to end study abroad programs in Israel.

University officials announced that day that some campus buildings would remain closed amidst protests. A dozen buildings remained closed the following day, as university officials offered to meet with leaders of student groups involved in the protests, MPR News reported.

Organizers met with administrators on Wednesday, the last day before final exams started, and described the conversations as productive. Before the night ended, they had reached an agreement.

Interim President Jeff Ettinger announced the takeaways from the agreement the following day: Campus buildings would reopen at noon, student organizers would not disrupt finals and commencements, and representatives would get an opportunity to address the Board of Regents at its May 10 meeting.

In the agreement, the university provided progress reports on six requests from student protesters, ranging from divestment to amnesty.

Among them: The administration said it would consider setting up program affiliations with Palestinian universities and make a good faith effort to provide information about the university's holding in public companies by May 7, to be supplemented by May 17.

Ettinger credited the meetings with organizers as a "very positive first step in reaching mutual understanding."

He said their original meeting was scheduled for 30 minutes — but the participants "engaged in constructive conversation" for more than 90 minutes, and then met two more times to discuss the proposed agreements.

"We regret that these meetings did not happen sooner, and have committed to regular meetings moving forward to continue to discuss this coalition's concerns," he added.

He said while he is heartened by the initial progress, there is more work to be done. Organizers with the UMN Divest Coalition made a similar vow on Instagram after the agreement was announced.

"We will continue fighting for all 6 of our demands until they are met and continue with full transparency of every step that is taken," they said.

Some government funding streams for L.A. County’s public health system are drying up, and officials are turning to private philanthropy to fill the gap.

A new privately funded foundation launched Thursday to strengthen public health services after $50 million in federal, state and local funding cuts to the county’s Department of Public Health since early last year.

“It is really a hard day for our community when we have to ask for private donations to fund a public good, but unfortunately, we've lost too much money to not take this important step,” said Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.

In February, the county’s Public Health Department closed seven clinics, with six remaining open. About half of the patients seen in those clinics are uninsured, according to county officials. The department also cut hundreds of staff positions.

Ferrer is on the board of the new foundation, The Fund for Advancing Public Health LA, which held its first meeting Thursday.

She said the fund will help the county maintain its basic public health infrastructure, including disease prevention, health promotion, environmental health, and emergency response efforts.

Other board members include several health insurance executives, as well as actors Sean Penn and Danny Trejo. Board member Saree Kayne of the R&S Kayne Foundation pledged $150,000 to the fund Thursday. Kayne said she hopes the donation encourages others to give.

The foundation aims to raise $2 million this year.

More cuts expected

L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell said it’s crucial to have an alternative funding stream to protect services for the county's most vulnerable residents.

“We are saving public health,” Mitchell said. “This fund represents a new approach, one that brings together government philanthropy in the private sector to invest in community-based solutions, protect vulnerable populations, and strengthen our public health infrastructure.”

Officials say more public health cuts are coming, through the federal budget law known as the "Big Beautiful Bill," which slashes funding for Medi-Cal.

The county Department of Public Health anticipates losing up to $300 million in revenue over the next three years because of the federal budget bill and other potential funding freezes. Federal funding accounts for almost 50% of the public health budget, according to county officials.

Mitchell also led an effort to put a half-percent county sales tax increase to fund public health on the June ballot.

If approved by voters, that proposal, known as Measure ER, is expected to raise about $1 billion a year for county safety net health services, including about $100 million for the public health department.

Board members

The Fund for Advancing Public Health LA announced its founding board of directors, which includes:

• Dr. Barbara Ferrer, LA County Department of Public Health director
• Debbie I. Chang, Blue Shield of California Foundation CEO
• Sean Penn, actor and co-founder of Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE)
• Martha Santana-Chin, LA Care Health Plan CEO
• Saree Kayne, R&S Kayne Foundation CEO
• Danny Trejo, actor and restaurateur
• Jarrett Barrios, an executive at the American Red Cross
• Dr. Deborah Prothrow-Stith, Charles R. Drew University College of Medicine Dean
• Kristin McCowan, an executive at the Los Angeles Dodgers

The Rose Bowl in Pasadena may be a centenarian, but it’s holding up pretty well as it continues to host events on its way to a starring role in the LA28 Olympics.

But before it can host the soccer final, it needs fixes, especially to the infrastructure serving the bathrooms and drinking fountains. Fears of a toilet backup while in the world’s spotlight led Rep. Laura Friedman to seek federal funds for upgrades. On Thursday she announced she secured just over $1 million.

“Two years from now, athletes around the world are going to compete for gold right where we are standing. This is not the time to find out whether or not these pipes are up to the task,” Friedman said.

The planned work, she added, will lead to improved water flow capacity and water drainage, eliminating the risk of backups and emergency maintenance.

The funds came from the House of Representatives Interior and Environment subcommittee. The fixes, an official said, will be completed by the LA28 Olympics.

The funds, however, are a drop in the bucket when it comes to what’s needed to make needed improvements to the Pasadena venue.

Officials, including (left to right) Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation President Dedan Brozino, Deputy Fire Chief of the City of Pasadena Tim Sell, Congresswoman Laura Friedman, and Rose Bowl Stadium CEO Jens Weiden announced infrastructure funding for the 103-year old Rose Bowl.

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“Over the  next 20 years there's about $200 million that we need to put in and that's everything from updating light fixtures to updating gas, water, wastewater lines, etc.,” said Dedan Brozino,  president of the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation, the nonprofit that supports the Rose Bowl stadium's preservation and enhancement.

Getting venues ready will be expensive

The money is a much-needed win at a time when elected officials in city, county, state and federal offices have been struggling to find the funds to get L.A.-area venues ready for the global Olympic stage in two years.

The entrance to a men's bathroom at the Rose Bowl.

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A $360 million proposal to spruce up asphalt in parking lots around Exposition Park won’t be done in time for the Olympics, as originally planned. Meanwhile, just up the street, there’s concern that a $2.6 billion expansion of the L.A. Convention Center, which is hosting Olympic wrestling, fencing and judo in 2028 won’t be ready for the Olympics.

Additionally, to save money, LA28 organizers moved Olympic diving to the Rose Bowl complex last year because it has two Olympic-sized pools, while the Exposition Park complex doesn't and would need expensive upgrades.

Topline:

About the chick: The chick hatched March 14. The zoo opened its Cape vulture enclosure in February 2025 after years of planning to encourage the birds to roost and nest, welcoming a new breeding pair that year. When it grows to be an adult, it’ll have a wingspan of 8 1/2 feet.

About the enclosure: The L.A. Zoo said it spent years developing the vulture habitat, which was designed to mimic the vultures’ natural environment in South Africa and nearby countries. Dominick Dorsa II, the zoo’s director of animal care, said in a statement the successful hatching is “a testament to the design and construction” of the habitat.

How to see the chick: You can’t for the time being. Zoo officials are keeping it away from visitors until the chick matures, though you can still see adult Cape vultures at the zoo’s enclosure.

Though visitors will have to wait until the chick matures to see it in the enclosure, you can still take in the impressive eight and a half foot wingspan of the adult Cape vultures.

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Courtesy Jamie Pham/L.A. Zoo

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What zoo officials are saying: “Welcoming a Cape vulture chick is a thrilling moment for our team and a beacon of hope for African vultures,” the L.A. Zoo’s curator of birds Rose Legato said in a statement. “Vultures are one of nature's most misunderstood marvels, and I cannot wait for our guests to eventually watch this chick grow and learn just how vital they are to our ecosystems.”

About the species: Cape vultures are listed as a vulnerable species due to human activities and encroachment. According to the L.A. Zoo, African vultures are more closely related to eagles and hawks than vultures native to the Americas, like the zoo's California condors that hatched last year.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

What should have been a celebration for formerly incarcerated youth completing a reentry program at the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory (BHAC) last week instead ended with seven students and two staff members detained by the Los Angeles Police Department, according to witnesses. 

Now, nearly a week later, BHAC staff and city officials are demanding answers from the LAPD, with some accusing officers of racial profiling. 

According to the LAPD, officers observed a large group gathered on the corner of Cesar E. Chavez Avenue and Mott Street around 4:16 p.m. on March 26. Authorities then requested backup for what they described as “a large group surrounding officers,” LAPD Public Information Officer Tony Im said. 

The group, classified by police as an “aggressive gang group,” consisted of seven 18-year-old students from the BHAC’s Bridge Academy Movement (BAM) program and two BHAC staff members.

The BAM program pays formerly incarcerated youth to complete 200-250 hours in media and visual arts training to prepare them for creative careers. That day, students were set to showcase their work at the BAM program graduation for families and community members. 

Rene Weber, a teaching artist at the BHAC, had been with the students setting up for the ceremony minutes before the incident occurred. 

According to Weber, the students had gone to coffee across the street at Milpa Kitchen as they often did, when staff were alerted that they were being detained. 

Weber said he arrived to find students and a staff member pressed against the wall in handcuffs. 

Video from the scene, taken by a staff member at the BHAC, shows multiple officers surrounding the group. At one point, an officer orders a person to “get on the wall” and displays a stun gun.  

“No, none of that, these are kids right here,” the staff member replies.

Another staff member, Teotl Veliz, recorded a large police response.  

“I counted 12 cop cars, that’s at least 25 cops, and they had a helicopter,” Veliz said. “It was just so comedic, tragically comedic, that it was on their graduation day too.”

Officers established a perimeter with yellow tape along the side of Ashley’s Beauty Salon as local business owners and witnesses gathered around the students. 

“I was just incredibly disappointed in LAPD… because it became so apparent to everybody, all at the same time, that it was racial profiling and nothing else,” Veliz said.

Weber said officers gave shifting explanations for the stop at the scene, including blocking the sidewalk and possible underage vaping. After Weber told the officers that all of the students were 18, they said they would investigate whether the group had any gang affiliation. 

Police have not responded to questions about what led officers to believe that the group was gang-affiliated. 

Weber recalled pleading with the officers to let the group go and explaining to them that they worked across the street. Community members and local business owners also stepped in to vouch for the students. 

“Our job is to help them gain a new perspective on life,” Weber said. “They’re coming out of juvenile detention and they’re turning their lives around. We can do our part in keeping them off the streets and keeping them doing better but what does it mean if they’re going to be profiled and treated exactly the same way?” 

In total, seven 18-year-old students and two staff members were detained. BHAC staff said one student and one staff member were taken to Hollenbeck Community Police Station and released less than two hours later after advocacy from community members and Councilmember Ysabel Jurado.

The incident ultimately resulted in an infraction for smoking a cannabis e-vape on a public sidewalk, according to a photo of the infraction shared with the Beat. LAPD did not provide details about the people taken to Hollenbeck Station or the infraction. 

The graduation ceremony was cancelled that night and is expected to be rescheduled in April. 

“Graduation should be a moment of pride and possibility — not fear,” Jurado said in a statement. “I’m seeking answers about what occurred, and this underscores the need for stronger relationships between law enforcement and community organizations so moments like these are protected, not disrupted.”

Carmelita Ramirez‑Sanchez, the conservatory’s executive director, said she was grateful to the community and Jurado for advocating for the students’ release. Jurado met her at Hollenbeck Station within 20 minutes of being alerted to the incident, she said. 

“They had store owners, señoras, barbers, that ran out and were trying to explain to the police who our kids were,” Ramirez‑Sanchez said. 

Still, she said the incident tarnished what should have been a joyous celebration.

“I imagine that what this does is derail this entire idea that you can be an active participant in your own restorative growth,” she said.