It’s not clear if UCF has such investments but organizers said they plan to look into it. A UCF spokesperson did not answer questions about divestment demands.

Elsewhere in the state, University of Florida officials late Thursday cracked down on pro-Palestinian student demonstrators as protests entered a third day. They faced up to a three-year suspension and banishment from the Gainesville campus if they broke certain rules — such as using bullhorns or rallying inside campus buildings. Employees or professors caught breaking the rules would be fired.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis backed the UF policy in a Friday tweet. UCF administrators have issued no similar declaration.

The nationwide protests, many led by Jewish organizers, spread from New York to California to Texas and now Florida after New York City police broke up a student-established encampment at Columbia University. Scores of protesters have been arrested, with many since released without charge. But encampments have popped up at universities across the country.

Public opinion has shifted drastically since the Israel-Hamas war began. While young people tend to be more critical of Israel, a Gallup poll in March found 55% of Americans disapprove of Israeli actions in Gaza compared to 50% approval toward the beginning of the war.

The recent wave of public support for Palestinians “has not been the case for a long time,” Gundy said. “It’s deeply moving to us here that it’s becoming very explicit the solidarity that people have.”

UCF President Alexander Cartwright was one of many university leaders who spoke out against the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. In a universitywide email sent Oct. 10, he condemned the attacks along with “hate, violence, and antisemitism in all forms.”

In response to Friday’s protests, UCF spokeswoman Courtney Gilmartin said the university “values the free exchange of ideas and the expression of different viewpoints.”

“All members of the UCF community and campus visitors alike have the right to express their beliefs without violence or disruption, subject to the rules and regulations of the university and state and federal laws,” Gilmartin said.

At least 7,800 undergraduate and graduate Jewish students attend UCF, making up about 11% of its population, according to Hillel International. The Jewish campus organization says that figure puts UCF as having the third-largest Jewish student population in the world outside of Israel.

Since Oct. 7, Palestinian students and their campus allies have staged numerous peaceful rallies and marches. But recent escalation of the conflict — the result of decades of Israeli occupation and creeping settlement onto Palestinian land — have increased tensions on campus.

In January, a Palestinian American student was arrested on charges of voicing death threats to Jewish students. According to an affidavit, Seif Asi, 21, told police his “emotions got the better of him” after he grew “tired of seeing students on campus defending the killing of Palestinian people.”

UCF police Chief Carl Metzger called the student’s comments “a direct antisemitic threat.”

“At UCF, we all have the right to free expression — but violence, threats of violence, and unlawful harassment will not be tolerated,” Metzger said.

Court records indicate Asi’s charges have since been dropped.

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