UT Austin students to protest in support of Gaza with class walk-out and campus sit-in

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — The Palestinian Solidarity Committee of Austin is organizing a protest in support of Gaza on Wednesday, directing students to walk out of class and "occupy" the South Lawn of UT's campus.

"In the footsteps of our comrades at Columbia SJP, Rutgers-New Brunswick, Yale, and countless others across the nation, we will be establishing THE POPULAR UNIVERSITY FOR GAZA and demanding our administration divest from death," a PSC social media post said.

Students are scheduled to walk out at 11:40 a.m. and occupy the lawn until past 7 p.m. Wednesday.

The protest follows days of tense encounters between students and police during protests on Ivy League campuses, shining a national spotlight on the cultural and political rifts on campuses and sparking debate about the appropriate limits to free assembly.

UT Austin's Jewish student organization, Texas Hillel, accused Wednesday's protest of promoting a "hateful agenda" by coinciding with Passover.

"The University has assured us there will be no tolerance for disruption or behaviors misaligned with University policy," a Hillel statement said.

KXAN will be on campus to cover the day's events, and KXAN's Ryan Chandler is providing updates on X. This story will be updated.