Negotiation Lessons from Pro-Palestinian Campus Protests
2024.04.29 GWU Anti-Israel Protest, Washington, DC USA 120 63113. (Photo: Ted Eytan)
Introduction
Earlier this year, dozens of U.S. college campuses were the centers of protest encampments led by Palestinian students and their allies. These encampments, protesting the unfolding genocide in Gaza, were part of a decades-long struggle for freedom for Palestinian people. Student demands to disclose and divest from genocide, colliding with university official's desire to return the campus to routine operation, resulted in a number of negotiations.
These dozens of negotiations had an impressive range of demands, decision-making processes, and agreements. Supporting a few negotiations directly and following the others as closely as we could from afar, we learned a lot.
One question in particular came up repeatedly: Were the student groups negotiating with the right person? This question prompted us to add a tenth element to our Negotiations Formula.
2024.05.02 Pro-Palestine encampment protest King’s College University of Toronto. (Photo: Can Pac Swire)
The Formula
In our Negotiations course, the first tool we introduce is The Formula. This strategic framework consists of a series of fill-in-the-blank sentences designed to thoroughly prepare you for any negotiation scenario. The first four out of the nine prompts in The Formula:
This is a negotiation to _________.
It is between _________ and _________.
Our goal is _________.
Our walkaway position is _________.
The Formula is a structured approach to thinking critically and your negotiations. Some prompts you will fill out easily. Others may take weeks of research or group process to complete. In our negotiations training, we give you the tools you need to fill out each of The Formula’s prompts in a way that is respectful of your role as a movement lawyer. You are ready to enter a negotiation when all nine blanks are filled in.
Authority in Negotiations
2024.05.25 Pro ceasefire activist addresses students and supporters outside University College London (Photo: Alisdare Hickson)
Nearly all of the student groups, demanding divestment, sat down across the table with people who lacked the authority to make the decision to divest. In some cases, these student-led groups recognized this limitation and made adjustments. Others? Not as much.
University presidents, for example, may have influence but generally have no authority over investment decisions. These are usually handled by investment boards, trustees, or other bodies. Student groups who recognized this reality adjusted their negotiations accordingly:
At Harvard, Vassar, and Johns Hopkins, students secured promises for investment reviews.
At University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Washington, student groups secured promises that student representatives would have direct access to decision-makers.
At Brown, years of organizing resulted in the strongest of the negotiation outcomes—the student group secured a date certain on which the university board will hold a divestment vote.
None of the student groups secured an agreement to divest. But some student groups secured outcomes that moved them significantly closer to the demand to divest, by specifying how and when a future negotiation will take place…with the body that has the authority to make such a decision.
2024.05.05 UCL student addresses activists standing in solidarity outside the locked main gate (Photo: Alisdare Hickson)
Integrating the Tenth Element into The Formula
From these observations, we added a tenth item to The Formula:
“The person with the authority to make the agreement we want is ____________.”
As with the other nine items in The Formula, there is no single correct way to fill in this blank. However, it must be filled out accurately. This means the team leading the negotiations must identify who has the power to meet their demands.
The person you are negotiating with may not have the authority to make the agreement you are after. If that is the case, what needs to happen to get the person who does have the authority to the table? Alternatively, what agreement does your negotiation counterpart have the authority to make? Your best outcome might be securing a promise for a future negotiation, with set conditions like:
A specific date for the negotiation
A defined agenda
Identification of participants, including the real decision maker(s)
Conclusion
The campus negotiations were a powerful reminder of the importance of knowing who is the relevant decision-maker in any negotiation process. The experiences of these student-led movements underscored a critical lesson for all advocates: the authority to make decisions must be clearly identified, understood, and engaged.
Ready to Grow Your Skill Set?
At Movement Law Lab, we believe in the power of authentic and effective negotiations to build community power. That’s why we’re inviting you to apply for our Negotiations with Power. It’s a 3-week online course that is custom-tailored to help you navigate these challenges with confidence. Applications now open.
