Tiffany Li

President Joe Biden’s speech at United Center closed out Monday night of the convention.

The Democratic National Convention (DNC) began at Chicago’s United Center on Monday. Here’s what UChicago students and community organizations from Woodlawn and Hyde Park are up to as our city hosts the four-day convention.

UChicago is providing housing for an estimated 500+ police officers from out of town who have come to provide security at the DNC.

“During the Democratic National Convention (DNC), law enforcement personnel from outside of Chicago will be housed for approximately one week in a residence hall on the University’s campus at the request of the City of Chicago,” a University spokesperson told the Maroon in a statement on Sunday. 

“Nearby residents and people on campus may notice additional law enforcement personnel and vehicles in the area during the week of the DNC. These law enforcement officials will provide security during the DNC within and in areas around convention spaces. Every summer the University hosts thousands of guests in our residence halls, ranging from high school students to visiting scholars to nonprofit groups,” the statement concluded.

A post on X by Chicago Police on Saturday also showed a crowd of officers in the Woodlawn dining hall.

“Over 300 officers from Illinois and Milwaukee were deputized by Superintendent Larry Snelling today during a #ChicagoPolice training session ahead of the DNC,” the caption read. “These officers are assisting with security, allowing CPD to focus on patrolling neighborhoods citywide.”

Community members and UChicago students participated in the pro-Palestinian March on the DNC on Monday afternoon.

The march consisted of a few thousand protesters, who gathered to rally at Union Park. They then marched to the United Center, where evening activities for the DNC are being held. Thirteen people were arrested after they breached the fence around the convention center. Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said those arrested in connection with the breach were not connected to the main protest march.

Abla Abdelkader, a UChicago encampment participant and Chicago Students for Justice in Palestine organizer, criticized the University’s hosting of the officers during a speech at the March on DNC rally on Monday. Abdelkader is a student at the University of Illinois Chicago.

“At the UChicago encampment I witnessed the suppression of our movement,” Abdelkader said. “UChicago is more committed to giving cops a place to stay than to meet their students’ demands of divestment.”

Members of Southside Together Organizing for Power (STOP), an organization that works against the displacement of Black communities in Woodlawn and its surrounding areas, were present at the protest as well. 

Concerns about gentrification have grown in recent years as the Obama Presidential Center’s construction has begun in Jackson Park. STOP was a part of the group that supported third-generation homeowner Christiana Powell and three tenant families as police evicted them from Powell’s home on Friday.

Savannah Brown, a housing organizer at STOP, spoke to the Maroon as the rally took place.

“I just want to emphasize the connection to what’s going on in the neighborhood surrounding the Obama Presidential Center, Woodlawn, and South Shore,” Brown said. “The oppression that Black folks face is very similar to the folks that we’re here in solidarity with, Palestinians… I think at the end of the day, Palestinians are fighting to stay in their homes.”

Brown also expressed that she thought UChicago shared responsibility for any displacement the Obama Center caused. 

“You need to continue to hold the University of Chicago accountable as well, because they’re the reason why the center is being brought here, and they have their own vision for Woodlawn in the South Side,” Brown said. “It’s important that we do not allow them to cloud what is already present. There’s already a community… and they deserve to stay.”

At a smaller protest on Sunday, called “Bodies Against Unjust Laws,” Palestinian UChicago Professor Eman Abdelhadi spoke. Among other demands, she called for Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris to enact a U.S. arms embargo on Israel and a permanent ceasefire. 

“Vice President Harris, you have a choice,” Abdelhadi said at the protest. “You could join a movement for justice. You could make a place for yourself in history. You could be a leader who chose to listen to her people rather than the interests of the war manufacturers. Or you could aid and abet a war criminal.”