UChicago United hosted a rally outside Levi Hall on Monday to raise awareness of its #CareNotCops and #ReleaseTheBudget campaigns. The rally was the latest in a series of actions the group has organized around making the University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) more transparent.
The #CareNotCops campaign began last spring after the shooting of a UChicago student by a UCPD officer. This past January, UChicago United co-hosted a teach-in on the history of the UCPD with Students Working Against Prisons, another activist organization that sponsors #CareNotCops.
In April, #CareNotCops held a rally outside Levi Hall to demand that the University release budgetary information about the UCPD. Organizers argued that students should have access to information about the UCPD budget, since a portion of the University’s budget comes from tuition payments.
Activists at Monday’s rally painted banners and chalked the pavement outside Levi Hall, which hosts much of the University administration, with messages about the UCPD budget.