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As the spring semester comes to a close, protests demanding an end to the Israel-Hamas war continue to spread at Colorado colleges, with a new encampment at the University of Denver and disturbances reported at graduation ceremonies last weekend for the University of Colorado Denver and Metropolitan State University of Denver.
A group called DU for Palestine set up a Gaza solidarity encampment at DU’s Carnegie Green on Thursday, mirroring the efforts of the Denver Students for a Democratic Society and Colorado Palestine Coalition, who began an encampment at the Auraria Campus on April 25.
DU administrators shared a new interim policy on protests and demonstrations that day, creating guidelines for acceptable demonstrations and prohibiting those that disrupt meetings or events, impede other DU community members from engaging in free expression, or harm people or property. The policy states the university can relocate and reschedule a protest and perform ticket or identification checks, as well as enforce other safety measures.
“We are focused on maintaining the safety of 12,000 students who are trying to finish out their academic year, while approximately 50 students are trying to make their voices heard,” university officials said in a statement to The Denver Post on Monday. “It’s a balance and one we evaluate and re-evaluate by the hour.”
On Firday, DU for Palestine shared its demands for the school on Instagram, calling for financial divestment from “companies and institutions that profit from or support the illegal Israeli apartheid, genocide and occupation of Palestine,” as well as the severing of all academic ties with “weapons manufacturers” and Israeli universities, according to the post.
On Saturday, DU for Palestine alleged the university’s administration planned to sweep the encampment and had requested that encampment participants present DU student identification, according to another Instagram post. DU officials denied it had threatened to “sweep” the camp or have anyone arrested.
“We have seen various instances of noncompliance from encampment participants, including refusal to show university-issued ID upon request.” DU stated in a Sunday news release, reminding students that noncompliance could result in a referral to the Student Rights and Responsibilities or the Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX.
The Post could not reach protest organizers for comment Monday.
DU for Palestine met with the university’s administration for the first time on Friday and again on Sunday, according to a DU news release.
“We went into that meeting really wanting to talk about disclosure. That’s really the first step to all of our demands is disclosing what investments the University of Denver has with the state of Israel and companies that operate within the state of Israel,” Jojo Carranza, a DU graduate student and DU for Palestine member, said during a news conference on Sunday. “In that meeting, our demands were not met to disclose those investments. What was given was a verbal agreement that they would continue meeting with DU for Palestine on topics of disclosure.”
The protests at DU follow on the heels of the Gaza solidarity encampment at Tivoli Quad on the Auraria Campus, where students are calling for the UC system and MSU Denver to divest from all funding and activities related to Israel. Police arrested more than 40 students and dismantled the camp on April 26, with officials citing the campus’s policy against camping. The encampment, now 18 days old, was rebuilt later that day.
Anti-war protesters also disrupted CU Denver’s commencement ceremony at the Denver Coliseum on Saturday by yelling and chanting, according to reporting by Denver 7. Demonstrators also interrupted the MSU graduation ceremony with chants of “free Palestine,” accompanied by raised hands dipped in red paint, according to a post by SDS Denver.
Demonstrations at other Colorado universities at the beginning of May, including the University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado State University, University of Northern Colorado and Colorado College, called for a ceasefire and for campus leaders to divest from activities and funding related to Israel.
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Boston Legacy FC
FOXBOROUGH — The Denver Summit began their inaugural season at a sprint, leaving Boston Legacy FC a few steps behind. On Sunday, Boston caught up.
Aïssata Traoré scored just before the start of second-half stoppage time and Bianca St-Georges scored four minutes into it, providing the Legacy their first victory in their inaugural season, 3-2, over Denver in front of an announced 12,524 fans at Gillette Stadium.
The Summit took an early lead before Nichelle Prince tied the game at one just before halftime. Natasha Flint stole the lead back for Denver in the 77th minute, but Traoré — who came on as a substitute in the 71st — found the equalizer in the final minute of regulation and St-Georges scored the winner.
Announced as the NWSL’s 15th club in 2023, the Legacy had a runway nearly two years longer than the Summit, who were officially announced as the 16th in January 2025 and kicked off this year.
The two expansion teams entered Sunday in vastly different positions. The Summit (1-3-3, 6 points) were 12th, four spots ahead of Boston (1-5-1, 4 points) at the bottom of the table.
Both teams made headlines with their home openers. The Legacy’s inaugural game on March 14 drew 30,207 fans to Gillette Stadium, a record for an inaugural home NWSL match until Denver more than doubled that number with 63,004 at Empower Field at Mile High two weeks later.
The Legacy were coming off their most promising performance yet, a 2-2 draw with North Carolina on Wednesday in which they scored two first-half goals before letting their lead slip late.
Boston controlled the pace Saturday for much of the first half, recording five shots on goal to Denver’s one, and were inches away from three early goals — one shot rang off the post, one off the crossbar, and one was blocked by a defender on the goal line.
Despite Boston’s offensive pressure, Denver struck first in the 18th minute. Yazmeen Ryan took on St-Georges one-on-one just outside the 18-yard box and ripped a shot on net. Legacy goalkeeper Casey Murphy got her fingertips on the ball, but punched it just inside the post as the Summit took a 1-0 lead.
Prince evened the score just before halftime, heading home a bouncing ball off of Alba Caño’s corner kick in the 44th minute. The goal was Prince’s first with the Legacy, though she assisted on both of Boston’s tallies on Wednesday — the first player in NWSL history to record two assists in the first 15 minutes of a match.
Denver’s second-half chances were few and far between, but Flint capitalized on a rare opportunity inside the box to beat Murphy and take a 2-1 lead in the 77th minute.
Traoré’s second goal of the season tied the game at 2. The Malian forward collected a pass in the box and fired a volley around Denver’s Eva Gaetino in the final minute of regulation.
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