The Girls Exploring STEM event would have brought together more than 1,000 girls from middle schools across the Denver metro area.
DENVER — A daylong STEM event for middle school girls scheduled for this week on the Auraria Campus has been canceled due to safety concerns from pro-Palestinian protests.
The event, Girls Exploring Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, was supposed to take place Thursday in the PE Event Center building, next to the Tivoli Quad where protests started last month.
On Tuesday, the Society of Women Engineers told participants that the event was canceled and won’t be rescheduled. This would have been the 23rd year of the event.
“Due to the ongoing Pro-Palestine protests and encampment on the Tivoli Quad, and on the recommendation of Auraria Campus Police Department, we have made the difficult decision to cancel,” said a letter posted to the organization’s website. “The safety and well-being of our attendees, volunteers, and partners are our top priority, and we believe this is the most responsible course of action.”
In 2023, more than 1,000 seventh-grade girls from 30 area schools attended the STEM event, which aims to expose girls to STEM and careers in the science and technology fields. Last year’s event also included 260 presenters and 108 volunteer guides.
Last last month, a pro-Palestine group organized an encampment on the Auraria Campus near downtown Denver. On Tuesday, Auraria Campus Police cited 12 protesters for trespassing, interference and disturbing the peace – arrests that come after campus police arrested 10 more protesters Monday for the same reasons.
Before Tuesday’s arrests, Auraria Campus spokesperson Devra Ashby said it appeared more than half the people arrested or ticketed since the protest started appear not to be students.
Demonstrators have organized on more than 100 campuses across the country protesting Israel’s attacks on Gaza and demanding their school’s divestment from companies linked to Israel’s military campaign.
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