berkeley campus visit

The Best Underground Spots on Campus

At a whopping 1,232 acres, UC Berkeley’s campus is quite vast. While there are plenty of iconic landmarks and popularly frequented spots, like Sproul Plaza, the Campanile, and Memorial Glade, there are also less trafficked areas that offer a respite from the hustle-bustle of campus. Here are a few of my favorite that I’ve discovered so far:

1. Ishi Court

Hidden in the bowels of Dwinelle Hall, Ishi Court is a beautiful courtyard surrounded by orangey-pink walls and plenty of trees. It’s the perfect location to take a break in between classes and enjoy the fresh air on one of the benches! However, it can be quite confusing to find. I’d recommend entering Dwinelle through the North entrance and going straight into Ishi Court. If you go through the main Dwinelle entrance, you might find yourself circling the hallways and traveling up and down staircases to find the entrance! Fun fact about Dwinelle Hall: The building is so huge that a student built a Dwinelle Navigator website that will give you step-by-step directions to each classroom based on which entrance you enter! It even has an estimated walking time.

2. Women’s Faculty Club Garden

I often hear about the main Faculty Club, but the Women’s Faculty Club is a lesser known gem on campus. Located behind the Haas School of Business, the Women's Faculty Club garden offers a serene atmosphere amidst the surrounding buildings (and construction sometimes). Abounding with flowers, buzzing bees, and lush greenery, the garden is the ideal place to sit and read. Though the Women’s Faculty Club is only open to faculty and PhD students on campus, anyone can enjoy the garden!

3. Social Research Library

UC Berkeley’s 27 on-campus libraries offer a variety of vibes, but the Social Research Library might just be my favorite. It’s located in Haviland Hall next to the East Asian Library. The pastel blue-green walls and engraved ceilings add to a cozy atmosphere for catching up on lectures or finishing assignments. And while finding a place to study can be challenging in some of the more popular libraries like Moffitt and Doe, the Social Research Library always has some open seats waiting for you!

4. Eshleman Hall Roof

If you take the elevator up to the top floor of Eshleman Hall, turn left, and walk out the door, you’ll find a somewhat hidden rooftop deck. With views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge as well as a few tables, I love bringing my lunch up there and sitting under the sun. It’s a peaceful escape from the bustle of Sproul Plaza and Telegraph Avenue below.

5. Grass behind Clark Kerr Building 8

The green space of my freshman year dorm, Clark Kerr Campus, was one of my favorite aspects of living there (besides accumulating many steps while walking to and from campus). I think a common misconception about UC Berkeley is that it is very urban, but some parts are actually very park-like. One of my heavily frequented places was the grassy area behind Building 8, where there are palm trees, picnic tables, and more. It’s often used by students for playing frisbee and volleyball, tanning, and my favorite activity of all, hammocking!

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Take A Tour in Berkeley

Tours are great ways to get introduced to a new area in a short time. And, if you're a local, an in-depth tour of a familiar attraction can be interesting and enlightening.

Consider these stimulating tours of top Berkeley places. For details, please visit venue websites.

1. UC Berkeley Campus Tour

Led by student guides, this 90-minute guided accessible walking tour gives an overview of the campus and highlights history and architecture . All tours cover housing and dining, academic structure, applying to Berkeley , undergraduate colleges and graduate schools, and safety and health. Some additional specialized tours are also available, including an admissions tour and residence hall tours.

• When: Tours generally commence at 9:30 am. See website calendar for availability and details.
• Reservations: Required.
• Good to know: You can visit the student union for lunch, and many more dining spots are available nearby on Telegraph Avenue .

2. TCHO Chocolate Factory Tour

Everything you always wanted to know about chocolate is explained during the TCHO chocolate tasting and factory tour. All of the chocolate is organic and 100% plant based. The factory equipment is strictly shiny, streamlined state of the art. In other words, you won’t be seeing Willy Wonka or any Oompa Loompas here! Must be age 7+; no pets.

When: Varies. Check website .

Cost: Fee; includes 25% off purchase in the factory store.

Reservations: Required; sign up here .

Good to know: You’ll be given a lab coat and hair net to wear before entering the factory!

3. UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley

Located in lush Strawberry Canyon, this 34-acre garden is home to more than 10,000 kinds of plants organized into nine major geographic collections. More than 2,200 are rare and/or endangered. Noteworthy sights include a rhododendron dell, a redwood grove, and a California area that occupied about one-third of the Garden and represents about 25% of the state's flora. It is one of the larges species collections of California native plants worldwide!

• Tour times: Saturdays and Sundays at 1 pm.
• Cost: Free with garden admission
• Reservations: Recommended for non-UCBG members and available here .
• Good to know: Pets are not allowed in the Garden due to the sensitivity of the plant collection. Only trained service dogs are permitted, but must be cleared at the Kiosk by Garden staff. The Lawrence Hall of Science is just a little farther up the road.

4. Regional Parks Botanic Garden

Established in 1940, this 10-acre garden located in rambling Tilden Regional Park collects, grows, displays, and preserves native California plants. Tours usually last about an hour and are appropriate for both adults and children.

• When: Saturday at 2 pm, Sunday at 11 am and 2 pm, and some holidays at 2 pm.
• Cost: Free. Admission to the garden is also free.
• Reservations: Not needed.
• Good to know: Pets are not permitted. Tilden Park’s Little Farm and the Merry-Go-Round are nearby.

5. Berkeley City Club

Designed by architect Julia Morgan--who graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 1894 with a B.S. honors degree in civil engineering, and who famously designed Hearst Castle--the magnificent landmark Berkeley City Club features Moorish and Italian Gothic elements and is decorated with oriental rugs and vintage furniture. It is a visual delight. A guest room can be seen by request if one is available. Tours last 45 minutes.

• When: Tours are offered on the fourth Sunday of the month, January-November. Drop in between 1 and 3:30 p.m.
• Good to know: On-site Julia’s Restaurant and Morgan’s Bar are open to the public, but never on Sunday. Telegraph Avenue is just two blocks away.

6. Edible Excursions

Edible Excursions walking tours feature culinary destinations around the Bay. Berkeley's Edible Excursions tour focuses on the famous foodie mecca known as North Shattuck , which is home to Alice Waters’ world-renowned Chez Panisse restaurant. Among the tour stops are the historic Cheese Board Collective to sample pizza and gourmet cheese and the original Peet’s Coffee .

• When: North Shattuck: Saturdays 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
• Good to know: You’ll get plenty to eat during these samplings. Plan your "before and after" meals accordingly.

7. Berkeley Historical Walking Tours

The Berkeley Historical Society offers neighborhood walking tours and special events. The Walking Tours are offered in the spring and fall. The Berkeley Historical Society Musuem is also a wonderful experience, filled with treasures from the past with relevance for the present and future.

When: Check website for calendar.

8. Telegraph Berkeley Tour

Experience Telegraph Avenue and the people who inspired and shaped its history with exclusive images, stories, and audio recordings, on this app-based tour curated in partnership with UC Berkeley and the Telegraph Business Improvement District. Points of interest along Telegraph Avenue are highlighted, with many historical references.

• Cost: free download at the App Store and Google Play: “ Telegraph Berkeley Tour. ”
• Good to know: Headphones are not required!

9. Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association house tours

The Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA) is Berkeley’s non-profit preservation organization whose mission is to promote, through education, an understanding and appreciation for Berkeley’s history, and to encourage the preservation of its historic buildings. BAHA's main annual event is a spring house tour.

• When: Check website for date.

These are just some of the many tours you can take to see all of the beauty in Berkeley. Meanwhile, check out our travel itineraries for even more inspiration.

Award-winning travel writer Carole Terwilliger Meyers, a native San Franciscan, holds a B.A. degree in anthropology from San Francisco State University and an elementary teaching credential from Fresno State College. She is the author of eighteen books, the editor of five books, and the mother of two children -- with whom she has been through the road wars and in the travel trenches first-hand. Learn more about Carol at https://www.berkeleyandbeyond2...

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UC Berkeley Koret Visitor Center 2207 Piedmont Avenue, Room 141 Berkeley, California 94720 U.S. Details   Open in Google Maps

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Berkeley City Club 2315 Durant Ave Berkeley, California 94704 U.S. Details   Open in Google Maps

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7 Things To See On Your Campus Tour of UC Berkeley

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If you are looking for a college atmosphere that is open-minded, always exciting, and filled with academic excellence, the University of California Berkeley is the university for you. It is ranked as the top public university in the United States, and it is home to 22 Nobel Laureate Professors. It is also one of the largest undergraduate research institutions in the country.

Established in 1868, the university has a rich history of forward thinking and change. It is the flagship college of the University of California system, which has given the university the right to call itself “Cal.” You will often find locals and students referring to the university as Cal.

In the 1960’s, UC Berkeley played a large role in the free speech movement, organizing mass student protests that garnered the attention of the entire country. Since then, Berkeley has made a name for itself as having a liberal mindset and as a home to many free thinkers. The university prides itself on its quirky and diverse campus. Any type of person can find a home at this university.

UC Berkeley is located in California’s Bay Area, a 25-minute drive from San Francisco. It’s worth taking a campus tour of the university to see not only the beautiful campus, but also its lively surroundings. If you’re looking for things to see during your campus tour of UC Berkeley, read on to discover the best spots in the opinion of a current UC Berkeley student.

Want to learn what UC Berkeley will actually cost you based on your income? And how long your application to the school should take?  Here’s what every student considering UC Berkeley needs to know.

1) Doe Library

When a student thinks of the UC Berkeley campus, one of the first images that comes to mind is the iconic Doe Library. With its unique neoclassical architecture, it is the main library of the UC Library system. Doe Library is where students go to study, do club photoshoots, and take their graduation pictures. It makes for a spectacular backdrop.

Doe Library is open to the public, so when you go inside, be sure to check out the small exhibit in the front of the library. Then, make your way down the marble steps to the North Reading Room, one of the most aesthetically pleasing study spots on the UC Berkeley campus. The ornate ceiling, huge windows with lots of natural light, and wooden tables make you feel like you’re at Hogwarts!

In addition, Doe Library has the Morrison Reading Room, a lesser-known study space at UC Berkeley. This particular library room was set up to be an escape for students from the rigors of academic life. The library offers fiction and non-fiction books with plush seats for leisurely reading. You will never find a student on their laptop in the Morrison Reading Room. Electronics are not allowed in order to maintain the relaxing and calm atmosphere.

What truly sets Doe Library apart from other university libraries, however, is that it is connected through underground and above-ground tunnels to two other libraries on the UC Berkeley campus: Bancroft Library and (Gardner) Main Stacks. Together, they make up the largest network of undergraduate research libraries at a public institution in the United States.

2) The Campanile

The Campanile is a symbol and a beloved spot on the UC Berkeley campus. It is the third tallest bell and clock tower in the world, and students love to come here to relax in between classes and enjoy the spectacular view.

The top of the Campanile has an observation deck with a 360-degree view of Berkeley and the Golden Gate Bridge. The trip up to the observation deck is free for students, staff, faculty, and children under the age of 3, and $3 for everyone else. There is rarely a line to get to the observation deck, and you can stay up there as long as you want.

While you’re on the UC Berkeley campus, make sure to listen for the Campanile’s Carillon concerts that occur three times a day. The Campanile plays a variety of songs, from classical Beethoven to Bollywood hits. It’s always a treat to hear what songs will be played on any given day.

3) Memorial Glade

Memorial Glade is a large grass field located right outside of Doe Library in the middle of campus. It is a great place to sit down and have a picnic while admiring the gorgeous Berkeley campus. On a day with good weather, you’ll find students out on the glade playing sports or studying with friends.

Memorial Glade is also a place where many school events take place. If you’re lucky, there might be a random carnival or festival on the glade during your campus visit. If you stay until the evening, you’ll often find free movie screenings and concerts on Memorial Glade.

Finally, if you come during the week before final exams, you’ll find llamas from a petting zoo. The university brings the llamas to campus as a stress-relieving mechanism for students, but anyone can approach and pet them.

If this sounds like a campus environment that you would be interested in, check out our Elite Universities Application Assistance page. We at CV will walk you through your applications to Berkeley and other top universities and give you the best tools to get accepted.

4) The First Floor Dinosaur Exhibit in the Valley Life Sciences Building

This small exhibit is free, open to the public, and inside the beautiful Valley Life Sciences Building (VLSB). The entire exhibit features dinosaur fossils and skeletons that were recovered by Berkeley professors.

The centerpiece of the exhibit, however, is in the middle of the VLSB atrium. There, you’ll find a fully recovered, freestanding mount of a Tyrannosaurus Rex that was recovered by a Berkeley professor.

If you step right outside of VLSB through the north entrance, you’ll find a special bench and wall designed by Berkeley physicists. If you face the semi-circular bench, find the middle of the bench, stand where the tiles meet the cement, and speak, anything you say will echo back to you. This will only work, however, if you stand at that one spot. This is a quirky experience on the UC Berkeley Campus that is worth trying out!

5) Durant Square

Durant Square is the most popular food spot for college students who live off the South Side of the UC Berkeley campus. (It is one block off of the Southern edge of campus on Durant Avenue.)

Durant Square is a small plaza of restaurants and boba tea cafes — it is not a very appealing-looking place, and it is easy to miss if you don’t know where it is. However, it’s got some of the cheapest and most delicious food for students in Berkeley, especially those on a budget.

Note that while Durant Square is the official name of this plaza of restaurants, many students and locals refer to it as “Asian Ghetto.” If you want to get an unfiltered look at where students spend their time off campus, Asian Ghetto is a must-see.

6) Free Speech Movement Cafe

As a student, this on-campus cafe is not only a convenient place to get a quick bite to eat during a long study session in Moffit Library or Main Stacks library, but it is also a testament to Berkeley’s rich history of equal rights and progress.

The Free Speech Movement Cafe (fondly known as FSM) was created as a tribute to Berkeley’s role in the Free Speech Movement and Mario Savio, who played a key role in the struggle for free speech. When you walk into the cafe, the walls and tables are plastered with newspapers and pictures talking about Berkeley, the free speech movement, and other social and political issues. Going to FSM is like getting a meal and a walk-through history at the same time.

Berkeley provides bulletin boards outside the cafe with the covers of various newspapers from around the world on that particular day. The point of this is to keep students informed about the most pressing issues of the day and allow people to see the world from many different perspectives.

You will rarely find FSM empty. Students love this cafe for its fresh ingredients and its proximity to libraries and other buildings on campus. In addition, many GSIs (Graduate Student Instructors) will claim a table in FSM and hold their office hours there. Students can approach their GSI individually and ask any questions they may have about the course material.

7) People’s Park

People’s Park is three short blocks away from the South Side of campus on Telegraph Avenue. On the outside, People’s Park is simply a large park in the middle of Southside Berkeley. However, it also plays a significant role in the rich history of the university.

Before the lot was decorated and a park was put in, People’s Park was essentially a patch of grass where Berkeley “hippies” used to hang out in the late 1960’s. This was a time of great conflict between the free-loving students and the university administration. In 1967, the students were forcibly removed from the park so that university dorms could be built on the lot.

In 1968, the university ran out of funds to build the dorms, so the project was scrapped. People’s Park became a muddy site of debris and broken cars. In reaction to this, student and community volunteers came in and cultivated a beautiful park with grass, trees, and flowers.

However, on May 15, 1969, a day known in Berkeley as “Bloody Thursday,” Governor Ronald Reagan called Berkeley “a haven for communist sympathizers, protesters, and sex deviants,” and sent the California Highway Patrol and and Berkeley police officers to forcibly remove the students and community members. This led to a violent protest and riot in Berkeley. 128 Berkeley residents and 111 police officers were injured.

Today, People’s Park is a free public park with many volunteer gardens and a basketball court. Students who pass it on their way to class are reminded of Berkeley’s rough history against the administration and the spirit of protest on the UC Berkeley campus. If you decide to visit People’s Park, however, take caution; while it has a rich history, it has also developed a reputation for crime.

Berkeley is beautiful, quirky, and rich with history both on campus and in the surrounding area. When you arrive on campus, you will instantly feel the spirit of freedom and protest. More importantly, however, you will be exposed to the brilliant minds and the best academic programs of any public university in the nation.

If you would like to learn more about UC Berkeley, other elite institutions, and campus tours, check out these posts:

• The Ultimate Guide to Applying to the University of California
• How to Write the UC Berkeley/University of California Application Essays 2016-2017
• An Insider’s View of Seven Top College Campuses
• How To Make the Most of A Campus Visit
• Eight Sights to See On Your Campus Visit to Pomona College
• All the Right Moves, on All the Right Campuses: 5 not-so-obvious things to do on your campus visits
• 5 Question to Ask Your College Tour Guide

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Campus visitation for Fall 2023 semester is now open and back in person! Additional dates and times will be added periodically throughout the semester, so please check back on our Events Page  for updates.

If you can't make it onto campus, check out our virtual campus visitation program .

Campus Visitation Program

Our Campus Visitation Program is available throughout the academic year. Spend a day (or just a couple of hours, if time is tight) experiencing life as a Berkeley Haas MBA student.

Carefully coordinated by our admissions team and the Haas Student Ambassadors (HSAs) , your visit will include:

• Class observation
• Self-guided tour
• Coffee chat with current students
• Lunch with fellow campus visitors
• Q&A with admissions
• Student-led information session

Check for available dates and register now. →

Observing a Class

When registering, you will be asked to select a preferred class to observe. We typically offer morning (9 am–11 am), and afternoon (2 pm–4 pm) options.

Spaces fill up quickly, so register early for more options. One class visit per academic year is permitted.

If class observations are full on the day you're coming to campus, you're still welcome to participate in the activities listed above. Just select the "No Class Observation" option when registering.

Typical Campus Visitation Schedule

Here's what your day might look like when you come to visit.

Dates and times are added periodically throughout the semester, so please check back on our Events Page for updates.

Virtual Campus Visitation Program

If you can't make it to Berkeley, our Virtual Campus Visitation Program is available throughout the academic year.

• Virtual Admissions Information Session
• Pre-Recorded Class Observation
• Virtual Self-guided tour
• Virtual Student-led event

Check out how to register below and our recommended schedule of sessions:

While you can choose your own campus visit adventure, here's the agenda we recommend for your virtual visit:

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Protesters set up encampment at UC Berkeley to demand end to Gaza war, divestment from Israel

By Carlos Castañeda

Updated on: April 23, 2024 / 4:04 PM PDT / CBS San Francisco

Protesters at the University of California, Berkeley camped out overnight in Sproul Plaza following a demonstration to demand an end to the war in Gaza and the university's divestment from companies with ties to Israel.

Students occupied the steps in front of Sproul Hall and pitched tents in front of the building, calling the action a "solidarity encampment." The encampment began as a rally in solidarity with the ongoing pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University where more than 100 people were arrested last week.

A UC Berkeley spokesperson said there were no plans to change the university's investment policies and practices.

With three weeks left in the semester, Berkeley is prioritizing students' academic interests," said university vice-chancellor and spokesperson Dan Mogulof. "We will take the steps necessary to ensure the protest does not disrupt the university's operations."

At UC Berkeley, students have been protesting against the war in Gaza at Sather Gate since February. Monday's action in Sproul Plaza is one of dozens of other pro-Palestinian protests at college campuses across the country . 

At Columbia University in New York, supporters of Israel marched in solidarity with Jewish students who said they felt unsafe after the week-long campus protests. On Monday, the university switched to mandatory remote learning and promised to significantly increase on-campus security.

Also on Monday, dozens of protesters were arrested at New York University and Yale, and the gates to Harvard Yard were closed to the public as some of the most prestigious U.S. universities sought to defuse campus tensions over  Israel's war with Hamas .

Other universities that saw on-campus protests Monday included California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt in Northern California, the University of Michigan, and the University of Colorado. 

Cal Poly Humboldt announced that its campus will be  closed the school's campus through at least Wednesday  after demonstrators occupied a building Monday night. Classes were to be conducted remotely, the school said on its website.

Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Nbc news channel, pro-palestinian protest grows at uc berkeley campus.

Students camping out on the University of California Berkeley campus are demanding the school cut financial ties to Israel and weapons manufacturers. KNTV's Pete Suratos reports. April 24, 2024

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Education | Pro-Palestinian protesters set up tents on UC…

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Education | Pro-Palestinian protesters set up tents on UC Berkeley campus, vow to stay until the university divests from companies in business with Israel

Protesters challenged police to arrest them during rally.

Pro-Palestinian students and their allies set up about 15 tents on the steps of UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza on Monday afternoon, vowing to stay put until the university system officially calls for an end to the deadly Israel-Hamas war, cuts its study-abroad program with Israel and divests from companies with ties to the country.

Some of the several hundred protesters, many wearing the traditional Palestinian keffiyeh around their heads and some waving “boycott, divest, sanction” signs, said they plan to camp out until the university system meets their demands and challenged police to arrest them. By late afternoon, about 50-100 people were sitting, reading poetry and chatting.

“We’ve been out here, and we’ll continue to be out here,” said Matt Kovac, a spokesman for UC Berkeley Divest Coalition, which organized the midday rally. “I don’t see mobilization stopping until the U.S. and UCs begin to take this seriously.”

In a statement Monday, the coalition that represents 75 student, staff, faculty and alumni organizations calling for UC to divest from companies doing business with Israel, said the University of California system invests in more than $2 billion in companies that supply arms.

UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said there are no plans to change the university’s investment policies and practices, and that with three weeks left in the semester, Berkeley is prioritizing students’ academic interests over disruptions on campus.

“We will take the steps necessary to ensure the protest does not disrupt the university’s operations,” Mogulof said.

The Israel-Hamas war, now in its seventh month, began after Hamas militants breached Israel’s border defenses on Oct. 7, 2023, rampaged through communities unchallenged for hours, killing about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, while taking roughly 250 hostages back to Gaza. It was the deadliest assault in Israel’s history. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

Retaliatory airstrikes by Israel have since killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials, at least two-thirds of them children and women. It has devastated Gaza’s two largest cities and left a swath of destruction in the narrow, 25-mile-long territory governed since 2007 by Hamas. Around 80% of the territory’s population have fled to other parts of the besieged coastal enclave.

The United States is on track to approve $26 billion in additional aid to Israel, its close ally. The aid package approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday includes around $9 billion in humanitarian assistance for Gaza, which experts say is on the brink of famine, and $4 billion for Israel’s missile defense. The U.S. Senate could pass the package as soon as Tuesday, and President Joe Biden has promised to sign it immediately.

As the war rages, ideological divides have collided at college campuses across the country.

Columbia University canceled in-person classes on Monday after protesters rallied throughout the weekend at the Ivy League school’s New York City campus, where police last week arrested more than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had set up an encampment.

Since those arrests, pro-Palestinian demonstrators have set up encampments on other campuses around the country, including at the University of Michigan, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale University, where several dozen protesters were arrested Monday morning after officials said they defied warnings to leave.

Stanford University in February shut down a similar demonstration after 120 days in which pro-Palestinian protesters had camped out at White Plaza starting Oct. 20. Eighteen pro-Palestinian protesters who disrupted a family weekend event at the campus in February were arrested and issued misdemeanor citations, the Stanford Daily reported.

UC Berkeley and other universities are under scrutiny from Congress, where lawmakers are investigating complaints about anti-semitism and the safety of Jewish students.

Monday’s protest at Berkeley comes just two months after a campus event featuring a speaker from Israel was canceled and its attendees escorted to safety after some 200 protesters surrounded Zellerbach Playhouse and broke down the doors, according to university officials. University chancellors said those actions of the protesters violated “some of our most fundamental values.”

Ori Rabina, one of a handful of Jewish students observing the protest, said he wants to believe that the protest was not held intentionally on Passover, one of Judaism’s holiest observances, which this year begins at sundown April 22.

A Pro-Palestinian protester holds a Palestinian flag while in front of Sproul Hall during a planned protest on the campus of UC Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif., on Monday, April 22, 2024. Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters staged a demonstration in front of Sproul Hall where they set up a tent encampment and are demanding a permanent cease-fire in the war between Israel and Gaza. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Pro-Palestinian protesters protest in front of Sather Gate during a planned protest on the campus of UC Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif., on Monday, April 22, 2024. Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters staged a demonstration in front of Sproul Hall where they set up a tent encampment and are demanding a permanent cease-fire in the war between Israel and Gaza. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Pro-Palestinian protesters stand in front of Sather Gate during a planned protest at UC Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif., on Monday, April 22, 2024. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Pro-Palestinian protesters begin to set up tents in front of Sproul Hall during a planned protest on the campus of UC Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif., on Monday, April 22, 2024 (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Pro-Palestinian protesters gather in front of Sproul Hall during a planned protest on the campus of UC Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif., on Monday, April 22, 2024. Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters staged a demonstration in front of Sproul Hall where they set up a tent encampment and are demanding a permanent cease-fire in the war between Israel and Gaza. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Banan, a UC Berkeley graduate student with Justice for Palestine, (did not want to give her last name) speaks to Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered in front of Sproul Hall during a planned protest on the campus of UC Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif., on Monday, April 22, 2024. Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters staged a demonstration in front of Sproul Hall where they set up a tent encampment and are demanding a permanent cease-fire in the war between Israel and Gaza. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Pro-Palestinian protesters gather in front of Sproul Hall during a planned protest at UC Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif., on Monday, April 22, 2024. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Tyler Gregory, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council, said he also didn’t believe the timing of the protest was intentional, but it would have an impact.

“People were already going into Seder ready to talk about Columbia (University). Now people are really worried about whether (the UC Berkeley demonstration) is going to stay peaceful or not,” Gregory said. “There’s just a heightened moment of fear because of what happened in Columbia.”

The protesters said their rally also comes amid escalating repression of pro-Palestine speech at UCLA and Pomona College in Southern California.

The demonstrators called their protest site “Free Palestine Camp,” chanted “disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest,” and “1,2,3,4 occupation has to go … 5,6,7,8 Israel is a terrorist state,” and played recordings of what they said was a noise similar to one Gazans hear from Israeli drones overhead.

Berkeley Law student Malak Afaneh gave the speech she was stopped from giving last week when she and other protesters were asked to leave a backyard lunch hosted by Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky.

“I will keep shouting this speech from the rooftops until Palestine is free,” Afaneh said Monday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Boston police arrest 100 as crackdown on campus Palestine protests ramps up

At least 93 students detained at USC and 34 arrested in Austin while House speaker faced jeers at Columbia University

More than 100 people were arrested at Emerson College in Boston early on Thursday in the latest crackdown against the rising wave of campus pro-Palestinian protests across the US that has seen the House speaker, Mike Johnson , suggest calling in the national guard.

Johnson waded into an already tense situation on Wednesday with a visit to Columbia University, where the decision last week of the university president, Minouche Shafik, to invite the NYPD to dismantle a student encampment catalysed what is rapidly becoming a national movement. Johnson nevertheless called for the resignation of Shafik, facing jeers on campus from the pro-Palestinian protesters.

At University of Texas in Austin at least 34 protesters, including a member of the media from a local news station, were arrested overnight, while at 93 more were detained by police dressed in riot gear at the University of Southern California (USC), the Los Angeles Times reported .

In mass arrests at USC , militarized officers were filmed appearing to shoot rubber bullets into a crowd of peaceful demonstrators. While described as “less-lethal weapons”, rubber bullets can cause serious injury or even death . Further north at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, protesters barricaded themselves in a university building using furniture, tents, chains and zip-ties, prompting a campus shutdown.

The arrests in Boston came after Emerson officials ordered student protesters on Wednesday to dismantle their encampment-style demonstration in the city’s Boylston Place Alley, where students had been protesting since Sunday, WBZ-TV reported .

Students say they were peacefully protesting when the mass arrests began around 1.30am on Thursday. One student who spoke to WBZ-TV anonymously said that students were “dragged” and “pushed away … without much regard for [their] safety.” A Boston police spokesperson told WBZ-TV that four officers were injured, all non-life-threatening.

The original encampments at Columbia called for the university to divest from weapons manufacturers with ties to Israel. The protests have led to mass suspensions of students, and the arrests of hundreds .

At Columbia, flanked by a number of Republican members of Congress, Johnson denounced the demonstrations as “mob rule” and condemned what he called a “virus of antisemitism” at colleges nationwide.

“And it’s detestable, as Columbia has allowed these lawless agitators and radicals to take over,” he said. “If this is not contained quickly and if these threats and intimidation are not stopped, there is an appropriate time for the national guard.”

Johnson’s speech drew boos from the crowd, as he also called for the resignation of Shafik, who he accused of failing to protect Jewish students and allowing protests that led to the arrest of dozens of people there last week.

As temperatures rose, Kathy Hochul, the Democratic governor of New York , called Johnson’s trip “divisive”, while the Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez assailed authorities for the “reckless and dangerous act” of calling police to non-violent demonstrations.

Hochul accused Johnson of “politicizing” the issue, and “adding to the division”, according to the New York Post . “There’s a lot more responsibilities and crises to be dealt with in Washington,” she said.

Most of the protests involve pro-Palestinian students, some of them Jewish, demanding their schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies they consider to be enabling the brutal conflict in Gaza.

More than 140 students, faculty members and others were arrested on Monday night at a protest at New York University’s Manhattan campus.

At UC Berkeley, meanwhile, the “Free Palestine Camp” has grown over three days into a sit-in demanding their school sever its financial connections to BlackRock and other asset managers they see as complicit for financing genocide in Gaza . UC Berkeley holds a $427m investment in a BlackRock portfolio.

Some protesters are also calling for an academic boycott, which would end collaborations with Israeli universities and the establishment of a new Palestinian studies program.

Police responding to a demonstration at USC got into a back-and-forth tugging match with protesters over tents. As of 7pm local time more than a dozen people were arrested at the campus, according to a Los Angeles Times reporter on the scene. Video shows officers shoving students.

At Cal Poly Humboldt, a public university on California’s northern coast, the campus has been closed and classes are being held remotely after pro-Palestinian protesters barricaded themselves in a building for a sit-in. Dozens of students remain inside the building and have blocked entrances with furniture, according to the university, while others occupied another nearby building. Students there told the Sacramento Bee they felt compelled to take action.

“I think the solution is to get involved, because at least I can feel like I’m doing my part. Even if it’s not enough, I’m doing the best I can to make something of it. I find peace in that,” one student said.

At UT Austin, hundreds of local and state police – including some on horseback and holding batons – clashed with protesters, pushing them off the campus lawn and at one point sending some tumbling into the street.

A photographer covering the demonstration for Fox 7 Austin was arrested after being caught in a push-and-pull between officers and students, the station confirmed. A longtime Texas journalist was knocked down in the mayhem and could be seen bleeding before police helped him to emergency medical staff who bandaged his head.

Faculty at UT Austin will be striking in response to what they called a “militarized response” to a “peaceful, planned action”, stating on X that they are refusing to hold classes starting on Thursday.

At Columbia, the focal point of national student demonstrations, Shafik said on Wednesday that she had extended by 48 hours a deadline for talks with protest leaders for the dismantling of a tent encampment on Columbia’s west lawn.

Some Jewish students at Columbia said they had been physically blocked by protesters from attending classes, and subjected to racial hatred by demonstrators demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and for the university to divest from companies linked to Israel’s military operations.

Protest organizers blame outside actors for particularly inflammatory rhetoric against Jewish students.

Johnson’s visit to Columbia follows a number of other trips there this week by bipartisan groups of politicians. Three competing delegations attended on Monday, Axios reported , with the entirety of New York’s Republican congressional delegation demanding Shafik’s resignation, and Democrats criticizing her for not protecting Jewish students and faculty.

Joe Biden does not plan to visit Columbia when he visits New York on Friday, the White House and campaign officials told CNN. The White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said in a Wednesday statement that Biden believes free speech, debate and nondiscrimination are important on college campuses, adding that “students should feel safe on college campuses”.

The Associated Press contributed reporting

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