Both entrances to UC Santa Cruz were blocked Tuesday, and classes moved online, as that school becomes the latest UC campus flummoxed by the disruptions of pro-Palestine protesters.

Pro-Palestine protests have been popping up at colleges across the country over the last month-plus, but most of these universities have benefited from classes ending, and the students simply heading home for the summer. No such luck for UC Santa Cruz, where classes run through June 13, and the commencement ceremonies go through that weekend.

So, the protest headaches are just ramping up for UC Santa Cruz's administrators, and KQED reports that protesters have blocked the entrances to the campus, forcing administrators to move all classes online through Thursday.  

As seen above, this is not so much of a blockade as it is a human shield. And it must be frustrating for school leadership, as the school had just resumed in-person instruction on Tuesday after an academic strike last week. That strike was related to the violent handling of some protesters at other UC schools, and then this particular blockade popped up around 1 pm Tuesday.  

And yes, those are a whole bunch of “UAW On Strike” signs hoisted about the academic protest at UC Santa Cruz. What does the United Auto Workers have to do with any of this? Because for some reason, United Auto Workers Local 4811 represents graduate teacher assistants and researchers at UC schools. Whatever their involvement, that union's signs are all over this protest.

Either way, the school is not happy.

“Blocking entrances is unlawful and infringes on the rights of our students, faculty, and staff, who are trying to learn, teach, and go about their lives,” UC Santa Cruz Chancellor Cynthia Larive said in a Tuesday statement. “From about 1-5 pm, members of our community were unable to leave campus to pick up their children, to access medical care off campus, to show up to off-campus jobs, to leave campus after an early morning shift or to come onto campus for an afternoon or evening shift.”

Larive added that the school would be “switching to remote instruction on Wednesday and Thursday.”  Similar academic strikes are also underway at UCLA and UC Davis, seemingly with more UAW signs than signs expressing support for Palestinians.

Related: Berkeley Protesters Have Broken Into and Occupied Empty Building In Renewed Pro-Palestine Protest [SFist]

Image: SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA - MAY 20: U.C. Santa Cruz workers who are union members of U.A.W. 4811, which is part of the United Auto Workers, and pro-Palestinian protesters carry signs as they demonstrate in front of the U.C. Santa Cruz campus on May 20, 2024 in Santa Cruz, California. Academic workers at the University of California, Santa Cruz walked off the job Monday morning to strike in protest of the U.C. system’s handling of pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Organizers say the walkout will not last beyond June 30. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)