right now. Thanks for joining us. I'm Teri McSweeney and I'm Gia Vang. We begin tonight with those protests calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, intensifying at universities across the nation. And the Bay Area is no exception for a third night in a row, protesters are camped out at Stanford. NBC Bay Area's Marianne Favro joins us live on campus with a look at some of the protests and how universities are responding. Marianne Well, right now there are 18 tents here in the middle of White Plaza as protesters plan to spend another night out here despite a warning from the university that they could be expelled. During admit weekend at Stanford, visiting high school students found an encampment of protesters in the middle of White Plaza. They say they're demanding that Stanford separate itself from any companies or organization. Nations advancing military efforts in the Israel-hamas War. Understanding that students are putting their lives on the line, their bodies on the line, their futures on the line for something that, you know, something that could make a better place for Palestinians, a better place, a better world. We're going to open up Siemens Hall at Cal Poly Humboldt. Protesters have left the buildings. They barricaded since Monday after spray painting messages in classrooms. It's just important for us to be here for us to disrupt the system that is carrying out, you know, funding to these atrocities. In response to the protests, Humboldt announced it is shutting down the campus the remainder of the semester and switching to online learning. Sonoma State students are also calling for an end to deadly violence in Gaza as they camp in tents on campus. We would like the school, the administration and the school as a whole to call for a permanent and immediate cease fire. Now, students are also sleeping in tents on the steps of Sproul Hall at UC Berkeley as part of a Gaza solidarity encampment at university campuses across the country. The question is, will the groundswell of campus protests make a difference? Protests are really good at elevating an issue into the national, sort of dialog. And we're seeing that right now that these protests have put the issue of the israel-hamas war and the kind of suffering in Gaza on the map, whether they will change, you know, investment policies at universities seems unlikely in the short run. Here at Stanford, some of the protesters told me that the university actually handed them a letter while they were out here explaining that they could possibly be arrested or even expelled if they continue to spend the night out here. But they told me it was worth the risk to fight for change. Reporting live at Stanford, Marianne Favro NBC Bay Area News. Marianne, thank you very much. A new development tonight in the ongoing protest down at USC, Los Angeles police issued a tactical alert. The University closed to anyone who is not a resident. Pictures posted by the student newspaper appear to show a large police presence on campus. Now, this video is from earlier showing the tents that were still up. USC has faced backlash from students for canceling a pro-Palestinian students commencement speech, and since then there have been clashes on campus between protesters and police. Just this week, the university announced it would cancel its main commencement ceremony over security concerns. Limón. Dozens of pro-Palestine protesters gathered outside the Washington Hilton tonight. That is where this year's annual white House Correspondents Dinner was being held. Demonstrators protested loudly as the event was going on. They were also there shouting through loudspeakers as guests were arriving. The
