University of Chicago faculty call on administration to resume negotiations with pro-Palestinian protesters

A coalition of over 120 faculty and academic staff from the University of Chicago on Monday called on the school’s administration to resume negotiations with the pro-Palestinian encampment organizers.

University of Chicago Faculty for Justice in Palestine said administrators suspended negotiations Sunday and issued a midnight deadline to dismantle the encampment on the university’s main quadrangle. Dozens of faculty say they went to the encampment at midnight to protect students, but no action was taken.

UChicago United organizers established the encampment seven days ago — joining hundreds of other students across the country — to express support for the Palestinian people and call on the university to disclose its financial investments and to divest from “death in Gaza, the South Side and beyond.”

Speaking at a news conference Monday in front of the encampment, members of the faculty coalition reaffirmed their support for the “peaceful, welcoming, and educational space” students had created on the quadrangle and called on school leadership to return to “good-faith” negotiations.

Faculty made clear Monday they will step in if law enforcement moves on the encampment and the students residing there, regardless of possible disciplinary action from the university.

“If the university brings police against our students, we will be there,” said Eman Abdelhadi, an assistant professor in the Department of Human Development. “When genocide is happening … we are no more afraid for our jobs than people in Gaza are afraid to lose their tent, which replaced their home, which replaced their other home. Our fear pales in comparison.”

Abdelhadi, the only Palestinian faculty member, has joined student organizers in negotiations with the administration. Organizers say they were able to get the university to agree to establish a Gaza Scholars at Risk program that would bring eight Palestinian scholars to work and study at the school before conversations ceased Sunday.

A University of Chicago spokesperson said Sunday that no concessions have been made, noting there is already a Scholars at Risk program that people in Gaza can apply to.

The university also claimed it “sent no such communication” about a midnight deadline.

However, faculty members said Monday that the administration verbalized the midnight deadline in the negotiation room and would not provide information on what would happen if it were not followed.

Abdelhadi said they prepared for the worst because “the university has a history of arresting students and faculty.” About six months ago, the University of Chicago Police Department arrested UChicago United protesters, including two faculty members, who were engaged in a sit-in inside Rosenwald Hall.

Over the weekend nearly 70 protesters were arrested at a pro-Palestinian encampment set up outside the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Any action to remove the University of Chicago encampment or its inhabitants would be “indefensible,” said Elham Mireshghi, an assistant instructional professor in the Divinity School.

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

University President Paul Alivisatos has claimed the encampment creates a “systematic disruption” on campus, but faculty vehemently disagreed.

Faith Hillis, a professor of Russian studies and faculty board member at the Greenberg Center for Jewish Studies, said the encampment is “above all, a place of learning,” hosting multiple teach-ins each day and engaging with fellow students, faculty and community members.

“Since the first day of the encampment, the university has threatened it with violent dispersal and the charge that it violates university statutes that bar disruption,” Hillis said. “But it is, in fact, the genius of this encampment is that it is not truly disruptive to the university’s operations in any meaningful way — it is outdoors, and orderly and peaceful, and, as I said, an integral part of our learning environments.”

“I implore our president and our university leaders to come back to the bargaining table in good faith and listen to our smart and courageous students and learn what they have to say,” she said.

University officials have not released any additional information on negotiations. In a statement Sunday, the administration wrote, “Unfortunately, the requests of the protesters were inconsistent with the University’s principles.”

About 20 miles north, pro-Palestinian protesters at Northwestern University were able to reach an agreement with administrators. The deal requires the university to disclose information about any investments to people associated with the university within 30 days of an inquiry, to re-establish a committee with student representatives to advise on investments and to fully fund tuition for five Palestinian undergraduate students, among other agreements — in exchange for the encampment being reduced to one aid tent.

At DePaul University, an encampment remains in the main quad of the school’s Lincoln Park campus. University officials say they have requested a meeting Monday with the DePaul Divest Coalition.