A wave of pro-Palestine protests swept across the Chicago area’s college campuses Friday, with hundreds of students calling for their schools to divest from funds connected to Israel or those that profit from its war in Gaza.
At Northwestern University’s Evanston campus, demonstrations continued for a second day at Deering Meadow, a popular common area on campus. More than 40 tents covered the encampment — three times as many as Thursday — as some students studied, worked on laptops and read books.
Meanwhile, student organizers from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Columbia College and Roosevelt University staged a walkout in solidarity with Gaza downtown. And at the University of Chicago in Hyde Park, students marched on the main quad. No protesters were arrested at any of the demonstrations, as of Friday evening.
Protest encampments have popped up at dozens of college campuses across the U.S. and Canada, including Loyola University in Rogers Park, after beginning at New York’s Columbia University last week. Some schools have negotiated with students, while others called in law enforcement to douse demonstrations, leading to mass arrests and, at times, violent clashes with police.
As the death toll mounts in the war in Gaza — more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Health Ministry — and the humanitarian crisis worsens, students have demanded schools cut financial ties to Israel.
Israel launched its war in Gaza after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, where the group killed some 1,200 people and took 250 hostages.
Northwestern students want ‘all eyes on Gaza’
Students and activists associated with the Northwestern Divestment Coalition started the “Northwestern Liberation Zone” Thursday morning, taping signs to the fence surrounding the protest with messages such as “All eyes on Gaza.” Many spent the night in tents.
No citations had been issued as of Friday afternoon, a campus spokesperson said. No classes were canceled Friday either.
As rain began to fall Friday afternoon, students protected tents with tarps and directed a steady flow of donated supplies, from chips and cookies to prayer mats and pizza. Around half the crowd lined up for afternoon prayers led by Palestinian civil rights activist and Muslim scholar Imam Omar Suleiman, as two campus police cars sat nearby.
“Don’t move. Don’t move from the side of truth. Don’t move from the side of justice,” he said before leading the crowd in prayers. “Plant our feet firm and put in our hearts what is necessary to be fortified so that we are never intimidated, never scared, never broken.”
Some Jewish students say the protests have made them afraid to set foot on campus. Northwestern Hillel, the university’s Jewish center, said the encampment reflected “a disturbing and quickly escalating trend of antisemitic rhetoric and actions both nationally and on our own campus.”
Senior administrators met with demonstrators Thursday evening to “ensure the safety of members of the Northwestern community while also providing a space for free expression,” a university spokesperson told the Tribune. The university told students they could continue to assemble as long as they remove tents and stop using bullhorns and speakers, an offer they declined, a statement posted to the school’s website said.
First-year student Alexandra Hoffmann said she heard that conversations about disclosing the university’s investments were “not very productive.” She added that a core group of protesters were committed to staying overnight at the camp while other supporters came and went.
“A lot of people were very upset so that’s adding fuel to the fire,” Hoffmann said.
Universities, including Northwestern, use endowments invested in companies, private equity and hedge funds to pay for things such as research and scholarships. Northwestern’s endowment fund is invested in a “widely diversified pool of assets,” according to its website. Students are pushing the school to drop any investments in companies with ties to Israel and weapons manufacturers. Private institutions such as Northwestern aren’t required to provide detailed financial information.
Northwestern administrators abruptly changed a campus policy Thursday morning to ban tents and other temporary structures in common areas, saying students violating the policy risked suspension, expulsion or criminal charges, according to a statement on the school website.
There was a brief encounter Thursday morning between protesters and cops, who warned students to take down tents or face citations. But they eventually left to monitor the protest from nearby buildings.
At a protest Thursday afternoon, roughly four dozen Loyola students called on the school to reinstate a student representative to its board of trustees so students can access the school’s financial portfolios and understand whether it has invested money with companies that profit from war. Campus security watched the sit-in from a distance, but did not attempt to stop it.
Walkouts at three schools
Hundreds of students from the School of the Art Institute, Columbia and Roosevelt walked out of classes Friday afternoon, gathering in Millennium Park to express support for Palestine and other campus demonstrations.
As rain came down, the crowd clutched handmade signs and posters beside the Bean. Organizers chanted through a microphone and raised a large banner on the steps that said “Free Palestine” in red letters.
The Tribune did not see counterprotesters on the scene, but dozens of police officers watched from afar on North Michigan Avenue. A Chicago police spokesperson said there were no arrests. All three schools did not respond to requests for comment.
Jordan Daniels, a recent Art Institute graduate, was dripping wet from hours in the rain. The student encampments across the Chicago inspired her,, she said.
“It’s very exciting to see that young people are stirring things up,” Daniels said. An organizer added that many attendees planned to join the Northwestern encampment after the protest.
SAIC students Felix Severino, 26, and Julia Fetters, 22, stood toward the front of the crowd, cheering the speakers.
“The genocide has been happening for way too long. It shouldn’t have been happening in the first place,” Fetters said. “Just seeing three schools in Chicago get together, it’s like, ‘Hell yeah, we’re gonna make some noise.’”
U. of C. students call for a ‘free Palestine’
Meanwhile Friday afternoon, more than 100 students and activists marched in the rain on the University of Chicago’s main quad, shouting “Free, free Palestine” and “Up up with liberation! Down with the occupation.”
Organizers spoke about the importance of divesting university funds from institutions with ties to Israel. The protest lasted about two hours, ending around 4 p.m. A U. of C. spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Students said the movement for Palestinian liberation on campus has grown in the past six months with 13 campus organizations asking for divestment and full transparency on endowments.
“I am a marginalized student,” said Alexis Paredes, a senior at U. of C. “On a campus in which so much of our money goes to investing in weapons manufacturing. … I feel like it’s not in my heart to be complicit.”
The Associated Press contributed.
