In a congressional hearing last month, Nemat Shafik, the president of Columbia University, promised to enact tight disciplinary actions against unauthorized protests surrounding the Israel-Palestine war after tough questioning from Republican lawmakers regarding the university’s tolerance for anti-Semitism. True to her word, Columbia University responded to subsequent protests by authorizing the New York Police Department to clear out student encampments and arrest protesters–catalyzing Pro–Palestine protests in universities around the country. The goal of the majority of protests on campuses is to pressure universities to cut ties and divest from companies that engage with Israel, but stiff responses from university administrations have also brought up questions regarding freedom of speech and academic tolerance for political expression.
In Chicago, Northwestern, Depaul, and the University of Chicago all witnessed student encampments–each (at the time of this article’s publication) experiencing a different outcome regarding university negotiations. Five days after demonstrations began, Northwestern officials and student protesters came to an agreement, allowing demonstrations to continue until the end of the spring quarter in exchange for the removal of all but one aid tent. The student group emphasized that this negotiation was not the end of their work, but rather a first step to “maintain a sustainable movement, protect our community, and build towards Palestine Liberation”.
On the other hand, DePaul University protesters are continuing their encampment after failing to reach an agreement with university officials regarding the protester’s desires for the university to be more transparent concerning their investments in Israel. They recently received support from Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez of the 25th ward.
At the University of Chicago, the student-led encampment was active for eight days before eventually being shut down by administration. In an interview conducted while the encampment was still operating, Haneen, a member of the UChicago United for Palestine Coalition, explained that one of the main goals of the encampment was to showcase the university’s lack of acknowledgment of historical archives, cultural heritage sites, and other spaces for knowledge that have been destroyed in Gaza due to the war. She says that, while they recognize the university’s standard of political neutrality through the Kalven Report (which was published in 1967 and outlines the university’s role in political and social action), the administration’s refusal to comment on the destruction of these spaces is counterintuitive for the university’s culture of intellectualism. Furthermore, Haneen explained how the administration’s stance is further “complicated by the fact that the university’s endowment is directly invested in companies like General Dynamics, which produces bombs that are being used by the Israeli occupation in Gaza”.
However, while it is the protestors’ stance that the University of Chicago should call for a ceasefire in Gaza and cut any ties with Israel and Israel-supporting companies, including Israeli academic institutions, they are not necessarily calling for a release of Hamas’s hostages. Haneen explained the coalition’s stance is that “hostages can only be released if Israel enters into good faith negotiations, which start by enacting a ceasefire–something the Israeli side has been expressly refusing to do.” According to The New York Times, Israel has not accepted Hamas’s latest offer for a ceasefire but has agreed to continue negotiations and send a delegation to consider further concessions.
Finally when asked about the protestor’s decision to enact an encampment, even when the university explicitly expressed that encampments were not a form of protest they would support, Haneen stated that “The point of protest is to be disruptive” and, redirecting the conversation to Gaza, explained that “there is no bigger disruption to learning than all the universities in a place being destroyed”.
On May 7th, eight days after it began, the university shut down the coalition’s encampment. But, the protestors and administration have yet to come to a resolution. Ten days after the encampment was removed, Pro-Palestine protesters occupied the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics, carrying an effigy of Paul Alvisatos, the university’s president, and destroying property inside the building. When asked by the Institute director and former U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp why they were occupying a non-partisan institution, The Chicago Maroon reported that protestors responded saying “Everyone has to pick a side”.
For most of these protesters, summer is quickly approaching–meaning that they will be leaving, unlikely to return before the fall semester begins again. But as the war continues in Gaza, political tensions are unlikely to dissipate. Even now, encampments are being removed, but graduations are still being affected as schools cancel commencement speeches and suspend professors. Thus, while campuses will quiet down over the summer, neither protestors nor administration know what next fall will bring.
Published in the May 2024 issue of the Whitney Young Beacon.
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