Interim President Jeff Ettinger sent out a campus-wide email Thursday morning announcing the agreement to end the encampment on Northrop Mall at noon, which was erected to demand an array of asks from the University of Minnesota administration and Board of Regents.

Protest encampment organizers met with University leaders for multiple talks on Wednesday. Now,  Ettinger has committed to an agreement with student protestors that will end the encampment on Northrop Mall.

Because of the encampment’s closure, Ettinger said that the University will reopen closed buildings on the Northrop Mall at noon Thursday. The student coalition has agreed there will not be organized disruptions at upcoming final exams and commencements.

There were talks at 10:00 a.m. in St. Paul Student Center, 5:00 p.m. after an email and around 9:30 p.m., according to SDS spokesperson Merlin Van Alstine. The evening talks were conducted on Zoom.

In a message sent to campus organizers Wednesday evening, Ettinger presented a list of actions the University is committed to in exchange for protestors removing the Encampment.

The University has committed to making progress for six of the coalition’s demands:

(1) Divest: The protestors will be provided an opportunity to address the Board of Regents at their meeting on May 10.

(2) Ban employers: The University would be willing to facilitate a meeting with Career Services leaders to discuss appropriate advocacy around choices of potential employers, in response to calls to ban arms manufacturer employers from campus or in career fairs.

“We do not support restricting student career opportunities by instituting a ban of employers,” Ettinger said in the email statement.

(3) Boycott: The University will connect the student groups with the Vice Provost for International Programs and Senior International Officer to ‘identify the process to explore a program affiliation with one (or more) Palestinian universities.’ The University said if students can offer information on specific affiliations with Israeli universities, the University will report back on the status of those agreements

(4)Disclose: The University plans to bring additional detail to the next meeting about the University’s holdings in public companies by May 7, and will supplement this list with any remaining public company holdings by May 17.

“Investments in public companies can be shared, but other investments are protected by non-disclosure agreements or other legal constraints,” Ettinger said.

(5) Thawabit:  The University said it will seek to find ways to better express and evidence support for Palestinian students. It has committed to regular meetings to continue to discuss the protestor’s concerns and will seek to include the incoming President-designate in these meetings

(6) Amnesty: The University administration recommended to the University of Minnesota Police Department that UMPD does not arrest or charge anyone for criminal offenses because of activities that occurred throughout the past few days, noting that would only be honored if the encampment “is removed without incident.” Additionally, the agreement noted that the University is advocating for leniency with the Minneapolis City Attorney.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.