Anushree Vashist
Wooden boards and a banner surrounding the encampment on Monday, May 6.
UChicago United for Palestine (UCUP) launched an encampment on the quad outside of Swift Hall at 10 a.m. last 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, six, and seven of the encampment can be read on the Chicago Maroon.
May 6, 11:22 p.m.
Approximately 40 encampment members are gathered around the entrance of the encampment for a makeshift talent show. A microphone and lighting has been set up to create a small stage, and blankets have been spread across the ground. Members are performing songs and poetry.
It is a calm night at the encampment, particularly compared to the hubbub of Sunday night.
—Finn Hartnett, News Reporter
May 6, 10:34 p.m.
Starting at 9:15 p.m., approximately 40 encampment members gathered in a circle for the encampment’s “Songs for a Ceasefire” event, during which demonstrators participated in call-and-response songs.
— Eva McCord, Co-Editor-in-Chief
May 6, 9:28 p.m.
Student leaders in the Jewish and pro-Israel community requested a meeting with the Provost, the President, and the Dean of Students on Sunday afternoon and have yet to receive a reply, according to a source familiar with the matter.
— Maroon Staff
May 6, 9:01 p.m.
A petition titled “UChicago Must Remove the Encampment” has garnered over 2,000 signatures on Change.org. The petition was posted yesterday and calls on President Alivisatos to “order UCPD to remove the encampment.”
“Time is of the essence,” the petition continues. “Continued inaction and capitulation on Alivisatos’ part will encourage future protesters to adopt illegal techniques as means of coercion.”
— Zachary Leiter, Deputy Managing Editor
May 6, 6:56 p.m.
A letter signed by at least 250 UChicago faculty members and sent to UChicago President Paul Alivisatos and Provost Katherine Baicker calls on the University to protect free expression and avoid an escalation of tensions on campus by allowing the encampment to remain up until protesters and administration reach a “good faith” agreement.
“The suggestion that the encampment is substantially disrupting the normal life of the University across the campus is demonstrably untrue,” the letter reads. “Classes go on, debates continue, and, to date, there has been no violence by or on behalf of students participating in the encampment.”
The Maroon reported that during Friday’s counterprotest, a Ph.D student counterprotester was allegedly struck by a protester with a wooden shield.
The letter asks President Alivisatos and Provost Baicker to leave the encampment up as a testimony to the University’s values and commitment to free expression. “Disbanding the encampment means violating the principle of free expression on campus, and the public will understand it to be a violation of this principle,” the letter reads.
— Zachary Leiter, Deputy Managing Editor; Nathaniel Rodwell-Simon, News Reporter
May 6, 6:15 p.m.
Around 5:30 p.m., UCPD officers turned away protesters attempting to bring a wagon full of wooden planks into the encampment. An officer told the Maroon that the University has ordered UCPD officers not to allow any more wood into the encampment. Another UCPD officer stopped a separate group of protesters, who were moving wood from a pile next to the encampment, into the encampment.
Protesters have been using wood along with wire and chain-link fencing to reinforce the border of the encampment over the past few days.
At 5:56 p.m., UCUP announced via their Telegram channel that UCPD is “getting serious” about preventing protesters from bringing in materials used to reinforce the encampment’s fencing.
According to UCUP, officers said they will ask protesters bringing materials into the encampment to show their student ID, which will then be shared with Deans-on-Call.
“UCPD threatens that anyone who doesn’t comply will be arrested and charged with trespassing,” the message reads. UCUP is asking protesters to refrain from bringing these materials into the encampment and to not share their IDs with UCPD.
— Zachary Leiter, Deputy Managing Editor; Emma Janssen, Deputy News Editor; Finn Hartnett, News Reporter, Nathaniel Rodwell-Simon, News Reporter
May 6, 4:45 p.m.
Protesters have brought more wood to build a barricade on the encampment’s northern side. Some of the wood was sourced from Jessica Stockholder’s For Events art installation, which was exhibited in Hutchinson Courtyard through May 5.
— Zachary Leiter, Deputy Managing Editor
May 6, 1:35 p.m.
Unions representing faculty and staff at universities across the United States, including UChicago, released a statement today on X condemning “the use of violent force and disciplinary actions by university administrations against students and workers” protesting university connections with Israel and its role in the conflict in Gaza.
University of Chicago Faculty Forward (Affiliate of SEIU Local 73) is among the signatories of the statement, and UChicago GSU-UE Local 1103 agreed to add its signature. Card-signing members will be able to formally vote on the stance tomorrow.
“As unionized workers, we understand that the freedom to assemble and protest are foundational to democracy and to our ability as workers to collectively fight for meaningful changes in our workplaces and the world,” the statement reads. “We stand in solidarity with all of the students, graduate workers, faculty, and staff exercising their rights to free speech and protest. We call on all university administrations to live up to their values of academic freedom and to guarantee the right to freedom of speech, assembly, and protest on campuses.”
— Eva McCord, Co-Editor-in-Chief; Nathaniel Rodwell-Simon, News Reporter
May 6, 1:15 p.m.
Early this morning, two Israeli flags were raised on the main quad. One of them is attached to a wooden pole on a lamppost, with a signboard under it reading that the University Student Centers approved Maroons for Israel’s installation. The other flag is hung on a lamppost where an Israeli flag was hanging until Saturday night, when the Maroon observed an individual on a bike tear the flag down.
— Nathaniel Rodwell-Simon, News Reporter
May 6, 11:55 a.m.
UCUP has released their schedule of events for the day. It includes a rally at noon, “Political Data Tool Training” with the Invisible Institute at 4 p.m., several teach-ins, and a “Solidarity Performance Night” at 10 p.m.
— Nathaniel Rodwell-Simon, News Reporter
May 6, 11:20 a.m.
Around 30 members of Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP) gathered on the steps of Levi Hall for their press conference at 9:30 a.m., with the intention of “[expressing] solidarity with… students who have spent the last week peacefully demonstrating in opposition to Israel’s genocide,” according to Callie Maidhof, FJP member and associate director of the Global Studies Program.
Throughout the press conference, faculty members called for University administration to allow the encampment to continue, to acknowledge the destruction of universities in Gaza, and to resume negotiating with encampment organizers.
Multiple faculty members emphasized that they would disapprove of the University using police force to end the encampment and that they would be willing to be arrested alongside students if necessary. Faculty also framed the encampment as an embodiment of free speech that the University should support.
During the press conference, one onlooker repeatedly interrupted faculty members as they spoke and began yelling questions during the Q and A session, which faculty ignored. At the end of the conference, faculty members reiterated their support for student protesters and their demands.
“Our complicity as a university needs to end, and we will do everything in our power to end it,” Alireza Doostdar, associate professor of Islamic Studies and the anthropology of religion, said.
A full story on the press conference will be posted on the Maroon’s website later today.
— Tiffany Li, Deputy News Editor
May 6, 10 a.m.
Since its launch last Monday, the encampment has been in place for 168 hours.
– Anushree Vashist, Managing Editor
May 6, 8:30 a.m
The main quad has been quiet this morning as some encampment participants start emerging from their tents.
University of Chicago Faculty for Justice in Palestine will be hosting its press conference at 9:30 a.m. at the updated location of the steps of Levi Hall, per its Monday morning press release.
“Faculty will speak on the need for universities across the U.S. to uphold principles of free expression, the role of police intervention in student actions, and the need for administrators, including those at the University of Chicago, to engage students in good-faith negotiation for demands on their institutions,” the media advisory reads.
– Anushree Vashist, Managing Editor
May 6, 6 a.m
After rumors spread about a police raid at 3 a.m., the rest of the night in the encampment was quiet. Local news media and University landscaping crews arrived to the quad at dawn.
— Kayla Rubenstein, Co-Editor-in-Chief; Eli Wizevich, Grey City Editor; Nikhil Jaiswal, Co-Editor-in-Chief Emeritus