U. of C. faculty members rally to support pro-Palestinian student protesters

A group of University of Chicago faculty members gathered on campus Monday morning to express their support for the pro-Palestinian encampment on the school’s Main Quadrangle, a day after the university announced it had suspended negotiations with protesters.

Dozens of faculty members affiliated with the “Faculty of Justice in Palestine” gathered on the steps of the university’s Edward H. Levi Hall to call on the university to reopen negotiations with student protesters and to refrain from engaging the Police.

“There have been no updates yet on the return to negotiations,” said Callie Maidhof, professor and associate director in the university’s Global Studies department. “We’re really hoping they’ll start back up, but I haven’t heard from (administrators) yet.”

Since last Monday, students have occupied the quad, singing, waving flags and organizing religious events in solidarity with Palestine. Organizers have indicated they will not leave the Quad until the university agrees to a list of demands, including divestment from all Israeli-affiliated companies.

On Sunday evening, university officials announced they had “suspended” negotiations with student protesters, citing “material inaccuracies and mischaracterizations” in social media.

“The university’s leadership, including the academic deans, worked with the demonstrators’ designated students and faculty to explore possible paths toward an agreement within the university’s principles,” the statement said. “Unfortunately, the protesters’ requests were not in line with the university’s principles and discussions were suspended.”

On Friday evening, the university announced its willingness to “intervene” to remove the pro-Palestinian encampment, with President Paul Alivisatos claiming that student protesters have caused a “systemic disruption” on campus.

The announcement sparked tensions on campus this weekend, with protesters expecting to be arrested. But as of Monday morning, things remained quiet on campus.

Elham Mireshghi, an assistant professor at the university’s divinity school, said faculty members wanted to reaffirm their support for students protesting the war in Gaza after negotiations broke down.

She said the encampment is in line with the academic priorities of teachers at the school. The university is known for its ‘Chicago Principles’, a set of guidelines intended to ensure ‘free, robust and uninhibited debate’.

“This was and is an educational and political endeavor protected by the First Amendment,” Mireshghi said. “This must be especially ensured at UChicago, an institution dedicated to the free and open exchange of ideas. As faculty members, we will protect the safety of our students if the administration attempts to remove them by force, even if that means arrest and detention.”

Eman Abdelhadi, an assistant professor, said she is the only Palestinian faculty member at the University of Chicago. She said she was involved in negotiations between student protesters and the government and called on administrators to allow the protests to continue.

Abdelhadi emphasized that it is her responsibility as an educator to emphasize freedom of expression. She also said that the faculty is prepared to take legal action together with students.

“We are as afraid for our jobs as people who are losing their tents in Gaza. Tents that replaced their houses, that replaced their other houses,” Abdelhadi said. “Our fear pales in comparison.”

She added that she feels there is a “double standard of free speech” at the university when it comes to Palestine. In November, University of Chicago Police Department officers arrested nonviolent protesters who participated in a sit-in at the university’s admissions office.

Individuals were charged with a Class B misdemeanor for trespassing, a charge that was dropped by prosecutors in December. Abdelhadi said punishing non-violent protest is not in line with the university’s principles of free expression.

She added that the school’s leadership did not check on her safety or well-being as a Palestinian faculty member.

“The university hides behind the idea of ​​political neutrality, but the university was not politically neutral when it came to Ukraine,” she said. “It created all this infrastructure for the people affected by the Ukrainian conflict. … That is just one example of cases in which the university is open to freedom of expression, as long as it is not about Palestine.”

Anton Ford, an associate professor in the philosophy department, said the group of faculty members backs organizers’ call for the university to disclose and divest from investments in Israeli-affiliated companies.

“We reject as untrue the university’s assertion that a peaceful encampment of students is an intolerable disruption to campus life,” Ford said. “What little disruption there has been is a minor inconvenience, which is insignificant compared to the good of allowing our students to peacefully express their sincere political commitment.”

The encampments are among dozens in Chicago and across the country that have roiled college campuses and led to clashes and police arrests. On Monday, Columbia University announced that it had canceled its large university-wide commencement ceremony due to the ongoing pro-Palestinian protests, but would hold smaller school ceremonies this week and next.

The weekend brought escalating tensions at other encampment protests in Chicago, with police arresting dozens of people occupying a garden at the Art Institute of Chicago on Saturday. On Sunday, pro-Palestinian agitators and pro-Israel counter-protesters clashed on the campus of DePaul University in Lincoln Park.

A spokesperson for the Civilian Office of Police Accountability said the agency received a complaint Monday of excessive force from at least one CPD officer who responded to the SAIC encampment. The agency is now investigating whether it will investigate the complaint or whether it will be handled by the CPD’s Bureau of Internal Affairs.

The protests are on the radar of the city’s political leaders as they grapple with how to tailor their messaging to both First Amendment rights and security ahead of the Democratic National Convention in August.

Mayor Brandon Johnson would not say whether he supported the arrests, but said it was the SAIC that ordered the detention of protesters because they were on private property.

“Clearly the police have responded, and look, my ultimate wish and goal is to make sure that fundamental rights are protected and that we work to keep people safe, and we have done that,” the mayor said at a unrelated news conference at the Thompson Center Monday.

The Mayor’s Deputy Mayor for Safety, Garien Gatewood, was on site for several hours on Saturday to try to reach an agreement with the students and the school to move to another location. However, the failed attempt at de-escalation drew condemnation from some of Johnson’s allies; seven progressive councilors signed a letter on Sunday warning that the scene at SAIC cannot be repeated.

Gov. JB Pritzker, who was at the same event, indicated the arrests were justified.

“People were protesting on private property and a request was made, first for discussion as I understand it, and then for removal,” he said. “It doesn’t seem inappropriate that if people who don’t want to follow the rules, if they commit violations, they should leave.

The encampments began in recent weeks amid the rising death toll in Gaza. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas-led Health Ministry.

Israel began its war in Gaza after Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on October 7, in which the group killed about 1,200 people and took 250 hostages. President Joe Biden on Thursday defended the right to protest but emphasized that “order must prevail” on college campuses as some in Chicago’s Jewish community demanded action at local universities to prevent hate speech.

The Chicago Tribune’s Caroline Kubzansky, Sam Charles, Alice Yin and Jake Sheridan contributed.