Negotiations between protesters and officials at Columbia University about clearing the lawn with the encampment had been extended for 48 hours.
Student protesters “won the concession that the university will not call law enforcement on our peaceful protests” early Wednesday, Khymani James, a student at Columbia, said during a news briefing Wednesday afternoon.
“While we have received written assurances that our encampment will continue, the university continues to make threats in its attempts to stifle its students’ political speech,” he said.
When asked by CNN about the written assurances, James said there was an update posted to the university’s website Wednesday morning.
There have been no public updates posted to the university’s website since Tuesday, according to a review by CNN.
In a statement to CNN early Wednesday, Columbia said "student protesters have committed to dismantling and removing a significant number of tents."
“That was a bad faith negotiation made before the university threatened to call the National Guard on us,” said another student protester, Basil Rodriguez.
Susan Ellingwood, AVP of public affairs at Columbia, said to CNN: “Deploying the National Guard was never on the table.”
When asked what protesters would say to students who say they feel unsafe on campus, Rodriguez said: "Listen to our demands." What the protesters are advocating for is “mutually beneficial to everyone” and “acting out of love,” Rodriguez said.