A petition demanding that the University of Chicago remove the pro-Palestine encampment on the Main Quad has received over a thousand signatures in its first morning. Organizing the petition is Reclaim Our Quad, which self-describes as “a group of nine concerned UChicago students.” The petition language reads:
On Monday, April 29, UChicago United for Palestine (UCUP) set up a large encampment on the University of Chicago’s Main Quad. This occupation is illegal, obstructive, disruptive, and dangerous. However, as of the time of writing (Sunday, May 5), the university has yet to remove it. We are appalled by our administrators’ willingness to indulge UCUP, and we urge the university to immediately remove the encampment.
“Setting up tents on the Quad or erecting other structures and obstructions without prior approval, as happened in this case, is a violation of University policy,” wrote Dean of Students Michele Rasmussen on Monday the 29th. The same day, President Paul Alivisatos wrote that an encampment is “a way of using force of a kind rather than reason to persuade others.” “If necessary,” he added, “we will act to preserve the essential functioning of the campus against the accumulated effects of these disruptions.”
Alivisatos and the administration allowed the encampment to remain in place for all of last week. Then, on Friday, May 3, Alivisatos wrote, “The encampment has created systematic disruption of campus. Protesters are monopolizing areas of the Main Quad at the expense of other members of our community. Clear violations of policies have only increased. Our students have issued a torrent of reports of disrupted classroom learning.”
On May 3, Alivisatos added, “On Monday [the 29th], I stated that we would only intervene if what might have been an exercise of free expression blocks the learning or expression of others or substantially disrupts the functioning or safety of the University. Without an agreement to end the encampment, we have reached that point.”
Despite Alivisatos’ red line, the encampment remains. And we were shocked to see, in the pages of The Chicago Maroon, that the administration allegedly reduced University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) protection for the Main Quad “as a part of preconditions for negotiations” with UCUP. The Maroon adds, “For most of Saturday evening, there was no consistent UCPD presence on the quad, 57th Street, or 58th Street, with at most one officer intermittently present.” All of this occurs amid rampant crime on and around UChicago’s campus.
Also problematic is that many of the encampment’s perpetrators are not affiliated with UChicago. What we have on our Quad, then, is an unvetted group of people being supervised by a reduced number of UCPD officers. This is incredibly dangerous.
It is imperative that Alivisatos follow through on his May 3 red line and order UCPD to remove the encampment. At the very least, Alivisatos should restore police coverage to the Main Quad before anyone gets hurt. We make this request as advocates for learning, safety, and free movement.
Time is of the essence. Continued inaction and capitulation on Alivisatos’ part will encourage future protesters to adopt illegal techniques as means of coercion.