Finn Hartnett
The projected text on Levi Hall reading "From the river to the sea."
UChicago United for Palestine (UCUP) launched an encampment on the quad outside of Swift Hall at 10 a.m. on Monday, following in the steps of pro-Palestinian groups at numerous other universities that have set up encampments in recent weeks.
This article is being updated as the situation develops.
Coverage from days one, two, three, four, five, and six of the encampment can be read on the Chicago Maroon.
Day 7 Summary
In the early hours of Saturday morning, protesters projected large red letters onto Levi Hall spelling out chants and a profane insult towards University President Paul Alivisatos. Later in the day, encampment activity remained mostly low, featuring an Eastern Orthodox Easter celebration alongside the daily Muslim and Jewish prayer services. UChicago United for Palestine (UCUP) also announced the University’s commitment to a “Gaza Scholars at Risk Initiative,” which was later disputed by the University in a statement that said the “Scholars at Risk” program is an existing initiative that impacted scholars are encouraged to participate in.
In the statement, the University also announced that discussions had ended after “the requests of the protesters were inconsistent with the University’s principles.” The University also clarified that contrary to information shared by UCUP, UCPD presence on the quad fluctuates on a needs basis that is unrelated to the negotiations.
Later that evening, UChicago Faculty for Justice in Palestine released a statement claiming that “UChicago admin says immunity against raids ends at midnight.” Many encampment participants were under the impression that the University had given protesters a deadline of midnight to dismantle the camp before a raid, with UCUP releasing a “mass mobilization message” requesting support.
In the hours leading up to midnight, protesters fortified all sides of the encampment with wooden barriers and chain link fencing and worked well into the night on safety and strategy drills. Protesters were also separated into color-coded groups based on how prepared they were to be arrested in the event of a raid.
Despite the preparation and the arrival of almost a hundred onlookers, no raid occurred at midnight.
May 6, 3:05 a.m.
Encampment organizers have announced that a raid is “very unlikely” to happen tonight.
“I know we are tired. I know we are angry. But we need to be here. We can’t leave until they accept our demands,” a UCUP spokesperson said. “It is better to be overprepared than underprepared.”
Organizers advised encampment participants to go home and get some rest. Some people have started trickling away from the quad.
— Maroon Staff
May 6, 2:02 a.m.
The number of people on the quad has slowly decreased over the past two hours. The impromptu rally has concluded, but protesters continue to play music.
— Peter Maheras, News Editor; Sabrina Chang, Deputy News Editor
May 6, 1:11 a.m.
The four color groups dispersed briefly before coming together in a consolidated crowd of roughly 200 protesters. Encampment organizers began leading the crowd in chants including “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and “Paul, Paul, you can’t hide, you invest in genocide.”
— Tiffany Li, Deputy News Editor
May 6, 12:52 a.m.
After a brief rally, the large group of protesters has split into the four color categories according to how prepared they are to be arrested. Faculty members have labeled themselves as faculty with signs taped on their backs. Approximately 15 faculty are in the red group, meaning they are among the most prepared to be arrested.
The groups have established formations and are undergoing training on avoiding a crowd crush. “Be familiar with who is in your line, because you are going down with them,” an organizer said.
Several groups of unidentified onlookers have arrived to watch encampment activities.
— Katherine Weaver and Sabrina Chang, Deputy News Editors; Elena Eisenstadt, News Reporter
May 6, 12:44 a.m.
Faculty for Justice Palestine (FJP) at UChicago previously released a statement referring to a midnight deadline for protesters to leave the encampment. In a statement to the Maroon, FJP made a correction, saying that the deadline referred to the expiration of a 12-hour period during which police would not take actions to end the encampment. FJP now claims that this buffer expired at midnight and served as an implicit deadline for the encampment to end or face removal.
“It is accurate that they sent no such communication insofar as they never sent out an email to that effect,” the statement read. “However, this information was conveyed to the student negotiators as well as faculty present and was reconfirmed at the start of the talks in person this morning.”
FJP said that organizers were ready to resume negotiations.
“If [the University has] decided that this deadline no longer holds, the students would be ready to return to good faith negotiation,” FJP wrote. “This is yet another distressing sign that university administration continues to act in bad faith.”
— Peter Maheras, News Editor; Nikhil Jaiswal, Co-Editor-in-Chief Emeritus
May 6, 12:19 a.m.
The meeting of roughly 250 protesters has moved to the front of the encampment, near the center of the quad. UCPD officers are recording encampment activities.
Encampment organizers announced that the camp will be divided into red, yellow, and green groups according to how comfortable they are being arrested. “If you’re okay with being arrested by cops, if you’re excited by it, then you’re a red,” they said.
— Maroon Staff
May 6, 12 a.m.
There has been a significant increase in people on the quad, and a large meeting is underway in front of Kent Chemical Laboratory.
— Katherine Weaver, Deputy News Editor; Elena Eisenstadt, News Reporter
May 5, 11:43 p.m.
In a statement sent to the Maroon, UCUP said that “the raid is not certain, but remains likely.” They said that “the university has made clear to students that their ‘immunity’ from police raids would end at midnight tonight.” Throughout the night, encampment participants have expressed to the Maroon that they believed a raid was likely.
— Sabrina Chang, Tiffany Li, and Katherine Weaver, Deputy News Editors
May 5, 11:35 p.m.
Protesters have placed more fencing around the encampment, supported by hay bales, and have lined tents up against the fencing.
Some protesters have put on helmets.
— Sabrina Chang and Tiffany Li, Deputy News Editors
May 5, 11:12 p.m.
Encampment participants are bringing wooden boards reinforced with metal, chain link fencing with green mesh, and sandbags to the encampment from behind the University bookstore on 58th Street and South Ellis Avenue.
The protesters are using the materials to form barricades around the encampment.
— Tiffany Li and Emma Janssen, Deputy News Editors
May 5, 11:10 p.m.
UCUP has sent out a “mass mobilization message” on their Telegram channel and posted on Instagram announcing that “UChicago admin says immunity against raids ends at midnight.” They called on people to come to the main quad and show support for the encampment.
In a statement to the Maroon, the University said it had not sent a communication regarding a midnight deadline for the encampment to end.
UCUP’s message also claimed that there will be a risk of arrest.
— Elena Eisenstadt, News Reporter
May 5, 10:54 p.m.
More wooden barricades are being propped up around the southern and western side of the encampment. Wire fencing is also being set up around the perimeter.
— Finn Hartnett, News Reporter; Nathaniel Rodwell-Simon, News Reporter; Zachary Leiter, Deputy Managing Editor
May 5, 10:45 p.m.
At approximately 6:30 p.m., the University released a statement disputing several points shared by UCUP on the state of negotiations to end the encampment.
“University leadership including academic deans worked with student designees of the protesters and faculty to explore possible paths to an agreement within the University’s principles. All agreed to respect the confidentiality of those discussions. Unfortunately, the requests of the protesters were inconsistent with the University’s principles and discussions were suspended.”
Earlier today, UCUP released photos of their communications with the University as part of a social media post about the status of negotiations. The photos have since been deleted from the post, but the Maroon has reviewed and confirmed the veracity of the emails.
“There are material inaccuracies and mischaracterizations in the information being shared on social media,” the University’s statement read. “In particular, the Scholars at Risk program is an existing initiative at the University of Chicago and other leading universities and colleges. The program is open to scholars throughout the world. All scholars impacted by this conflict are being encouraged to participate. In addition, UCPD presence on the Quad has fluctuated based on needs and circumstances and at no point did we reduce—or agree to reduce—the security presence based on negotiations.”
On Saturday evening, the Maroon observed a reduced police presence relative to previous nights, as the Maroon reported this afternoon. According to UCUP, the reduced police presence on the quad was a condition of negotiations between UCUP and the University. Prior to releasing their most recent statement, the University referred the Maroon to a statement stating that substantive negotiations with organizers were ongoing when asked to comment this morning.
— Kayla Rubenstein, Co-Editor-in-Chief; Zachary Leiter, Deputy Managing Editor; Nathaniel Rodwell-Simon, News Reporter; Nikhil Jaiswal, Co-Editor-in-Chief Emeritus
May 5, 9:54 p.m.
Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP) at UChicago has claimed that the University issued a deadline of midnight tonight for protesters to disband the encampment, according to a statement released on Sunday night.
In a statement to the Maroon, the University said it had “sent no such communication.”
Throughout the night, members of the encampment have said that they believe a raid is likely tonight.
“Faculty say they are prepared to be arrested alongside student protesters opposed to University complicity with Gaza genocide,” the FJP statement reads.
This comes following a University statement released this afternoon stating that “the requests of the protesters were inconsistent with the University’s principles and discussions were suspended.” In their statement, the University specifically said that all participants had agreed to respect the confidentiality of the meetings.
– Maroon Staff
May 5, 8:50 p.m.
Protesters have begun placing barricades made out of wooden pallets and boards around the side of the encampment facing the center of the quad. The Maroon has observed individuals bringing the materials into the encampment over the past few days.
— Austin Zeglis, Senior News Reporter; Finn Hartnett, News Reporter; Nikhil Jaiswal, Co-Editor-in-Chief Emeritus
May 5, 6:23 p.m.
Protesters at the encampment are singing and receiving Holy Communion on the quad.
– Zachary Leiter, Deputy Managing Editor
May 5, 4:20 p.m.
In a joint Instagram post published by UChicago United for Palestine (UCUP), Palestinian Youth Movement, and US Palestinian Community Network, UCUP announced that negotiators were successful in having the University establish a “Gaza Scholars at Risk Initiative, which will bring 8 at-risk Palestinian scholars to work and study at UChicago.”
Before negotiations began, UCUP demanded preconditions including reduced UCPD presence on the quad, a guarantee that for the 12 hours after negotiations ended the University would not order any raids on the encampment, and amnesty for negotiators.
UCUP wrote that “daytime talks with subordinate deans over our demands” were “emptied of all substance” after being brought to President Alivisatos.
UCUP also wrote that they remain steadfast “as the administration attempts to trick or intimidate our movement into dismantling the encampment in exchange for hollow promises.”
UCUP closed the post with a “Call To Action,” telling “supporters to be prepared to mobilize en masse to support the encampment within the next 24 hours.”
— Eva McCord and Kayla Rubenstein, Co-Editors-in-Chief; Zachary Leiter, Deputy Managing Editor
May 5, 3 p.m.
A UCUP spokesperson, who told the Maroon yesterday that the encampment’s leadership had been “horizontalized,” offered clarification on their remarks.
“I wouldn’t say that we are sharing leadership with other organizations but distributing camp logistical tasks among individuals,” the spokesperson shared in a written statement to the Maroon early this morning.
“[There] is certainly still leadership. [I] again meant more along the lines of distributing labor and recognizing that we have to work together towards a common goal (maintaining the camp),” the spokesperson wrote.
— Emma Janssen, Deputy News Editor
May 5, 2:30 p.m.
Today is Pascha, the Eastern Orthodox Christians’s equivalent to Easter. In commemoration of the holiday, around 20 people gathered at the front of the encampment around noon to listen to Reverend Philip Maikkula, the priest in charge at St. Makarios Orthodox Mission and spiritual advisor to Orthodox Christians at the University.
Maikkula spoke to the Maroon on Saturday about the role of faith during the encampment movement.
“I’m here as a pastor and I feel I have a moral and spiritual and religious obligation to stand up against suffering of all people,” he said.
— Emma Janssen, Deputy News Editor
May 5, 12:39 p.m.
In a statement to the Maroon, regarding the reduced presence of UCPD officers on the quad, UChicago United for Palestine (UCUP) wrote that the reduced UCPD presence on the quad was the result of “UCUP [demanding] UCPD off the quad as a precondition for negotiating. [The] administration has only partially complied with this agreement by an apparent reduction of UCPD on and around the quad at certain times.”
The University referred the Maroon to its Saturday evening statement when asked whether the reduced UCPD presence was a result of a request from encampment organizers. The statement said, “This is an update regarding ending the encampment. Substantive discussions between the University and protesters are ongoing.”
— Eva McCord, Co-Editor-in-Chief; Nikhil Jaiswal, Co-Editor-in-Chief Emeritus
May 5, 12:15 p.m.
The entire encampment is now encircled with barriers of various forms, including caution tape, plastic mesh barriers, wooden boards, and wire fencing. Parts of the fencing have been up since Friday night, but it appears that new fencing was added before Sunday morning.
On Wednesday night, encampment organizers put up fencing, then took it down on Thursday morning at the request of UCPD and Facility Services. The fencing was partially put back up again on Friday night following rumors of a second counterprotest against the encampment.
— Katherine Weaver and Tiffany Li, Deputy News Editors; Nathaniel Rodwell-Simon, News Reporter
May 5, 9:30 a.m.
UCUP announced its daily schedule via Telegram at 9:23 a.m. It includes teach-ins on international law and Kashmir/Palestine solidarity, acupuncture and “Know Your Rights” workshops, and an Orthodox Easter Service. The schedule concludes at 9:45 p.m. with Isha, the fifth daily prayer in Islam; no rally is scheduled for today.
The quad remains calm with minimal UCPD and Allied Security presence, as it has been all morning.
— Anushree Vashist, Managing Editor; Katherine Weaver, Deputy News Editor
May 5, 8:15 a.m.
As the encampment enters its seventh day, participants slowly start emerging from tents. All is quiet on the main quad.
— Anushree Vashist, Managing Editor
May 5, 1:05 a.m.
In an email to University President Paul Alivisatos, 11 elected officials expressed their support for pro-Palestine encampments at universities across Chicago and encouraged UChicago administration to “refrain from police intervention.”
“We do not want to see our young people dismissed, arrested or brutalized,” the email reads. They also “welcome the opportunity” to meet with UChicago administration.
The officials who signed the email include 35th Ward Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa and 8th District County Board Commissioner Anthony Quezada, who spoke to protesters on the quad during the rally yesterday, and Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez, who spoke at the encampment on May 3.
— Sabrina Chang, Deputy News Editor
May 5, 12:50 a.m.
The protesters have projected large red text on Levi Hall, facing the encampment. The text alternates between “From the river to the sea,” “By any means necessary,” “Free Palestine,” and “Fuck Paul.”
The concert is ongoing, with participants singing and clapping along with the performers.
— Sabrina Chang, Deputy News Editor
