Organizers of the pro-Palestine encampment on the quad said they met with University administrators on Wednesday morning. In a statement to the Maroon, UChicago United for Palestine (UCUP), the organizers of the encampment, said that the meeting did not include negotiations on the state of the encampment.
The University declined to comment on the situation.
UCUP launched its encampment of the main quad on Monday morning. The number of tents at the encampment, named “UChicago Popular University for Gaza,” has steadily increased since its launch. The Maroon estimates that there are roughly 150 tents placed on the west side of the quad as of Wednesday evening.
Protesters demand that the University disclose its investments, divest from weapons manufacturers and fossil fuel companies, and provide reparations to Palestine and the South Side. Demonstrators said they would not leave until their demands were met.
The University has long maintained that divestment would violate its policy on institutional political neutrality, as articulated in the Kalven Report.
For large stretches throughout the days, protesters sat on picnic blankets chatting or making art. Multiple times a day, the protesters gathered for rallies, which often featured speakers from the broader Chicago community.
In a pair of emails sent to the University community on the first day of the encampment, University President Paul Alivisatos and Dean of Students Michele Rasmussen said the encampment violated University policies but emphasized the University’s commitment to freedom of expression.
“The impact of an encampment depends on the degree to which it disrupts study, scholarship, and free movement around campus. To be clear, we will not tolerate violence or harassment directed at individuals or groups,” Alivisatos’s email said. “If necessary, we will act to preserve the essential functioning of the campus against the accumulated effects of these disruptions. I ask the students who have established this encampment to instead embrace the multitude of other tools at their disposal.”
In response to the University’s emails, UCUP said it would continue its encampment until its demands were met.
“UChicago says we can ‘persuade’ but not disrupt,’” UCUP’s statement on Instagram read. “This is an ongoing genocide and scholasticide that the University is funding. We will not stand by and attempt to ‘persuade’ the University to stop supporting the genocide.”
At times, tensions have risen between the pro-Palestine and pro-Israel groups, including after the repeated removal of Maroons for Israel’s University-approved display of Israeli flags on the quad. An individual, whose identity is unknown, was confronted by UCPD after removing flags at around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. The individual ran from the scene. UCPD restrained a second individual involved in the altercation.
Encampment organizers have repeatedly told demonstrators not to engage with counterprotesters.
Protesters in the encampment have frequently sought to prevent people from filming the faces of demonstrators out of fear of doxxing. A Kick streamer who uses the username Waxiest visited the encampment multiple times during the first two days to film protesters.
While some universities have seen police responses and arrests, others have chosen to negotiate with protesters instead. Pro-Palestine protesters at Northwestern University in Evanston took down their own encampment this past Monday after reaching an agreement with University administration to address several of their concerns and provide aid for Palestinian students and faculty. An encampment at Brown University similarly ended with negotiations.
