‘Encampment cannot continue’: UChicago issues letter, asks community to avoid Main Quad
CHICAGO — The University of Chicago sent an alert Friday afternoon asking people to avoid the Main Quad due to “physical altercations.”
SkyCam9 over the scene showed hundreds of people at the Main Quad with what appeared to be pro-Palestine protesters and pro-Israel protesters.
The encampment began on Monday by pro-Palestine protesters. It’s one of several around the country at college campuses.
Day five of the student-run encampment at the university started off peacefully, but tensions escalated after a clash between pro-Palestine protesters and pro-Israel protesters.
“Hundreds of students are camped out right now for Palestine it has been the most numbers was today,” University of Chicago student Youssef Hasweh said.
Wearing riot gear and holding shields, campus police came to separate the groups.
UChicago, DePaul encampment continue as nationwide protests escalate
As demonstrators shouted dueling chants, the confrontation turned physical, as several people shoved each other and a brief altercation broke out.
“It definitely was super tense and scary to see them and my peers and…it was really scary for a second,” Hasweh said.
Some counter-demonstrators said they came to the quad after an American flag was removed from a flagpole on Thursday, so a Palestinian flag could go up. That flag was taken down on Friday, and nothing as put in its place, which is why they say they came to take action.
“They started agitating and that’s when we pulled out …in their favor,” University of Chicago student Arthur Long said.
It did not appear that anyone was arrested following the incident, but hours later campus police took someone into custody.
University leadership called Friday’s actions unacceptable.
In a message to the study body, the university President Paul Alivisatos accused pro-Palestinian demonstrators of vandalizing historic buildings and creating a disruption to campus life.
For more than four days, those encamped on the Main Quadrangle have expressed their views freely. I imagine there isn’t a person on campus who isn’t aware of their message. Yesterday, the provost and I met with them to better understand those views and seek a pathway forward. As I wrote on Monday, out of principle we provide the greatest leeway possible for free expression, even expression of viewpoints that some find deeply offensive, even in rare cases at the expense of some policy violations–for a time. But the encampment cannot continue.
The encampment has created systematic disruption of campus. Protesters are monopolizing areas of the Main Quad at the expense of other members of our community. Clear violations of policies have only increased. Our students have issued a torrent of reports of disrupted classroom learning. Other disruptions include repeated destruction of an approved installation of Israeli flags, shouting down speakers they disagree with, vandalism and graffiti on historic buildings, incorporating walkways into the encampment, and co-opting the University flagpole to fly the Palestinian flag.
What started as a modest encampment has grown each day. Fewer police are providing safety patrols in the neighborhoods because they are obliged to be present for the growing 24-hour unauthorized protest. Left to itself, there is no end in sight, and the disruptions will continue to mount. The encampment protesters have flouted our policies rather than working within them, despite UChicago being an institution that allows for many ways to express views.
On Monday, I stated that we would only intervene if what might have been an exercise of free expression blocks the learning or expression of others or substantially disrupts the functioning or safety of the University.
Without an agreement to end the encampment, we have reached that point.
University of Chicago President Paul Alivisatos
After negotiations between student protest organizers and university leaders stalled on Thursday, the president was adamant about intervening to shut the encampment down, if an agreement isn’t reached
“They keep telling us we keep disrupting learning but some of the best learning I’ve had my last four years have been in the last five days in the encampment,” Hasweh said.
UChicago United for Palestine is demanding the following from the university, according to the organization.
Acknowledge genocide in Gaza.
Divest from the genocide in Gaza.
Disclose university investments in manufacturers of weapons.
At an unrelated press conference, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said his office will continue to assess all of the demonstrations happening across the city.
“We’re at a critical point in our nation’s history, and so protecting people’s First Amendment right, of course, is paramount,” Johnson said.
Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said he will not get in the middle of people expressing their right to free speech if it’s conflict-free. Instead, Snelling said he is relying on university leaders for information, as the situation in Hyde Park continues.
The message from the university’s president did not provide details on how he plans to intervene, when the encampment will need to come down, or the consequences if it does not.
WGN-TV has reached out to university officials but has not yet heard back.
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