Vancouver Island University has issued a trespass notice to participants in a pro-Palestine encampment on campus.
The notice requests that students dismantle their camp and vacate by 8 a.m. July 15.
If anyone remains after that time, the university will be forced to take legal action to remove them, it said in a statement posted to its website.
“While we respect the rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and peaceful protest, these rights are not absolute,” the university said.
The students involved in the encampment are trespassing on the campus by remaining in the encampment, the university said.
Camping overnight, erecting tents or shelters, vandalizing property, intimidating anyone in the university community and disrupting university operations are all prohibited activities, VIU said.
“The encampment’s presence and recent actions — such as disrupting an exam, occupation of various buildings, and vandalism — prevents us from maintaining the inclusivity and safety we promise to uphold, where everyone can study or work in a secure and respectful environment,” VIU said in its statement.
"Encampment participants have escalated the severity of disruptive activities since its inception."
The encampment began on May 1, amid a wave of encampment protests on university campuses across North America.
