The UC announced Monday that it would not allow encampments across any of its campuses. 

The move, made public by UC President Michael Drake in a Monday email to the University community, comes after pro-Palestine protesters erected encampments on several UC campuses, demanding divestment from companies associated with the Israeli military. The email also indicated that the UC would not tolerate protests blocking free movement throughout campus or protesters using masks to conceal one’s identity.

“Freedom to express diverse viewpoints is fundamental to the mission of the University, and lawful protests play a pivotal role in that process,” Drake said in the email. “While the vast majority of protests held on our campuses are peaceful and nonviolent, some of the activities we saw this past year were not.”

Drake added in the email that these guidelines seek to create consistency in campus responses to protests. 

In July, the California State Budget called upon Drake to create a “systemwide framework” for free speech guidelines across the UC by Oct. 1, or else would withhold $25 million in funding from the University. The UC is in the process of developing this framework, according to the email.

Protesters from Students for Justice in Palestine and the UC Divest Coalition set up the first Palestine solidarity encampment April 25, which Gene Block declared unlawful five days later. On May 2, police swept the encampment, arresting over 200 protesters who remained in the area.

Following the sweep of the first Palestine solidarity encampment, protesters continued to set up occupations on campus, including at Kerckhoff Patio on May 23. Protesters also demonstrated in Dickson Plaza, Kerckhoff Patio and the Shapiro Courtyard – where 27 protesters were arrested for refusing to exit an area deemed “restricted” – on June 11.

[Related: Pro-Palestine protesters arrested following protests, encampments on campus]

In a written statement, Graeme Blair, a member of Faculty for Justice in Palestine at UCLA, denounced the policies announced by Drake, claiming that Drake and the Regents were to blame for violence at the first Palestine solidarity encampment because they failed to respond to the violent attacks by counter-protesters April 30. While Vice Chancellor for Strategic Communications Mary Osako said in a statement that law enforcement had been called for immediate support at 12:12 a.m. May 1, police did not arrive on the scene until over two hours later.

“At UCLA, the university failed to protect students from outside agitators who attacked with fireworks and bear spray, and then called in the California Highway Patrol to beat up their own students and shoot them with rubber bullets, sending dozens to the hospital,” Blair said in the statement. “These policies have one simple goal: stop dissent on campus about UC’s complicity in the war on Gaza.”

Blair also said in the statement that Drake has not accepted student encampment leaders’ offer to meet and discuss investments across the UC, adding that students would continue to protest as they had done in the spring until the University divests from the state of Israel and its military. 

[Related: How campuses across the UC negotiated with pro-Palestine protestors]

Last week, a judge issued a preliminary injunction against UCLA in response to a lawsuit filed by three Jewish students, who claimed members of the first Palestine solidarity encampment excluded them from certain areas on campus, including Powell Library. The injunction, which went into effect Aug. 15, ordered the UCLA administration to halt campus opportunities if Jewish students do not have equal access to them. 

“UCLA has failed to assuage the Plaintiffs’ concerns that some Jewish students may be excluded from UCLA’s ordinarily available programs, activities, and campus areas based on sincerely held religious beliefs should exclusionary encampments return,” Judge Mark C. Scarsi said in the injunction.