Northwestern students set up pro-Palestinian encampment, joining protesters nationwide
Students linked arms and formed a line against police after Northwestern leaders said the tent encampment violated university policy. By 9 p.m. protest leaders were told by university officials that arrests could begin later in the evening.
Northwestern University students set up a protest camp on Deering Meadow on Thursday.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Hundreds of people set up an encampment Thursday on Deering Meadow on Northwestern University’s Evanston campus as a show of support for Palestinian people living in Gaza, to protest what they call censorship from the university and call on the institution to divest from Israel.
The demonstration comes as similar student protests have sprung up at campuses across the nation in recent days, including Columbia University in New York, Emerson College in Boston and the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Some universities have called in police to break up demonstrations, resulting in scuffles between students, faculty and police.
A news release from NU Educators for Justice in Palestine, Student Liberation Union and Jewish Voice for Peace said the camp is meant to be “a safe space for those who want to show their support of the Palestinian people.”
Protesters continued occupying a field at Northwestern University on Thursday evening. University officials told leaders of the protests that arrests could begin later in the evening.
Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times
“Northwestern students report the administration is curtailing free speech,” the statement said. “The school is intimidating both students and educators who speak out against Israeli apartheid and occupation. The student liberation encampment will create a safe space for those who want to show their support of the Palestinian people.”
In a statement Thursday morning, university spokesman Jon Yates said, “Northwestern is committed to the principles of freedom of expression and peaceful assembly — and to protecting the safety of all members of our community, as well as limiting disruptions to university operations.”
I’m at Deering Meadow where about 100 student and faculty protesters have linked arms to protect their encampment from police. They have been here since 7 a.m. and police have been threatening arrests since about 7:30. pic.twitter.com/PP0K22IK7O
Student code of conduct is updated to prohibit tents
University President Michael Schill sent a letter to students Thursday morning saying the university had enacted an “interim addendum” to the student code of conduct to prohibit tents. The letter said that protesters had been informed they were in violation of university policies and that the university was removing tents that protesters didn’t take down.
“The goal of this addendum is to balance the right to peacefully demonstrate with our goal to protect our community, to avoid disruptions to instruction and to ensure University operations can continue unabated,” Schill said.
“Any violation of the rules contained in this document or in our policies could lead to disciplinary actions such as suspension or expulsion, and possibly criminal sanctions,” he said.
A statement signed by more than 100 faculty members and shared by Northwestern chapters of Educators for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace on Instagram demanded that the university allow the student protests to proceed.
“We, the undersigned Northwestern faculty of different backgrounds and political viewpoints, come together in support of these principles and in the firm belief that the university will violate its own commitments if it were to take any action to block our students’ rights to peaceful speech, assembly and dissent,” the statement said.
Around 8:30 a.m., campus police made a final announcement calling for tents to be taken down before arrests and citations would be issued. Protesters were on the meadow chanting and drumming, with some holding up signs facing the street saying “Divest from death, invest in life” and “NU = hedge fund.” One faculty member yelled, “You will not touch our students.” Students shouted, “The more you try to silence us the louder we will get.”
When police told the protesters to roll up or remove the tents, protesters chose not to comply, instead forming a human chain to prevent police from shoving their way through to the encampment.
More than 100 faculty members demanded that the university allow the student protests to proceed.
Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times
“They then moved forward, ripping up and destroying all of our tents and throwing them away,” Eden M., a grad student and protester, said.
By 8 p.m. there was no police presence and the crowd had grown to over 200 people. Several tents remained as students planned to stay overnight. There were tents with a first aid station, as well as one with food and drinks.
About 9 p.m. organizers said they had met with the president and provost to negotiate but were unsuccessful. Upon realizing they were not making progress, the protest leaders asked about arrests and were told they would receive two warnings before arrests began and that they could start by 11 p.m.
‘I wanted to put my body on the line’
Students and faculty at the protest said they felt a duty to speak out for people in Gaza.
“Once we heard that they were going to be doing this encampment, we wanted to be here as a presence to help protect them and support them,” said Steven Thrasher, an assistant professor at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism.
Protesters organized around a color-based system to indicate their willingness to interact with the police. Choosing red meant a protester was prepared to risk arrest, yellow meant they’d move if situations escalated and green meant they’d stay on the fringes.
“If we’re willing to be a level of red, we’re willing to be arrested,” Thrasher said. “And I’m a level red.
“I was horrified seeing students [around the country] be assaulted by cops,” he added. “So I wanted to put my body on the line before they could touch our students.”
“We want everyone to be safe and comfortable, but I think a lot of us are here because we know that there are a lot of people in Gaza who are struggling or don’t have any food or water,” Mayan, an undergraduate student and member of Jewish Voices for Peace, said. “The people that are here are willing to put ourselves on the line despite those worries.”
“We have a very strong contingent of Jewish representation here,” Eden, who didn’t share her last name for privacy reasons, said. “Although we are centering the Palestinian cause, this is not a coalition that is exclusive to anyone in any specific race or religion, or ethnicity, or nationality.”
Israeli flag stolen from counterprotester
About a half-dozen counterprotesters gathered across the street from the protest at one point in the morning for about an hour. A protester stole an Israeli flag from one of them and took it back to the encampment.
“I am not walking in amongst them, I’m not provoking them any way, I’m across the street, standing for what I believe in, because the Constitution guarantees me the right to do so,” John Brinkmann, an Evanston resident not affiliated with the university, said. “For one of the persons involved in this group to steal from me is unfortunate. I’m hoping that we all can continue to express our opinions and points of view in a peaceful manner.”
Police asked a student negotiator to return the flag. It was not returned. Brinkmann said he would be filing a police report.
Matthew Weiss, a senior at Northwestern, said he and the other counterprotesters showed up because of the “egregious” demonstration, adding that he was harassed on his way to the protest while carrying an Israeli flag and wearing a kippah.
“The atmosphere around Israel at this campus is disgusting,” Weiss, 21, said. “I think it’s frankly embarrassing that Schill was unable to get rid of this in the morning, because the tents are still here, the people are still here. There needs to be some severe repercussions.”
Northwestern Hillel executive director Michael Simon expressed concern about some of the rhetoric used at the protest, which he characterized as antisemitic. He emphasized the need to balance free speech with a safe, inclusive campus environment.
“We want people to express their opinions in an open and free way. But we also really want the university to be a place that’s free of people feeling harassment or intimidation or threats, and I think there’s just concern that the protests could go in that direction,” he said.
Students supporting a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war stand together at Northwestern University’s Deering Meadow.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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Students set up a tent encampment in Deering Meadow. On Thursday, the university amended the student code of conduct to prohibit tents.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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A bicyclist carries a Palestinian flag.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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“Divest from death, invest in life” and “NU = hedge fund,” were among the chants heard Thursday.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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“Northwestern is committed to the principles of freedom of expression and peaceful assembly — and to protecting the safety of all members of our community, as well as limiting disruptions to university operations,” the university said in a statement Thursday morning.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
A sign reading “Free Gaza liberated zone” hangs on a fence at Deering Meadow.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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Nearly 200 people were participating in the protest in Deering Meadow by Thursday evening.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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A protester with a sign. “Once we heard that they were going to be doing this encampment, we wanted to be here as a presence to help protect them and support them,” said Steven Thrasher, an assistant professor at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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A protester holds a sign that reads “Jews call 4 divestment.” A leader of campus Hillel said some of the rhetoric used at the protest was antisemitic.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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Protests continued at Emerson College in Boston, USC in Los Angeles and Columbia in New York. Some protests grew violent, with police beating and arresting demonstrators.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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The University of Southern California canceled its main stage graduation ceremony under new safety measures being taken as the campus is roiled by protests stemming from the Israel-Hamas war.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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A cordon of students confronts school personnel at Northwestern.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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Matthew Weiss, a senior at Northwestern, said he and the other counter-protesters showed up because of the “egregious” demonstration, adding that he was harassed on his way to the protest while carrying an Israeli flag and wearing a kippah.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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Protesters demanded that Northwestern “protect student civil liberties and safety, end partnerships that legitimize genocide and occupation, and disclose and divest from war and apartheid,” according to a press release by Northwestern University Educators for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace and Student Liberation Union.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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A woman speaks to protesters as a police officer stands by.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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Protesters demand a cease-fire in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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Demonstrations at Northwestern were mostly peaceful.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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A protester bikes with a Palestinian flag.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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Students stand together to call for a cease-fire and divestment.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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University police officers monitor protesters.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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Students place photos of people killed in Gaza along a fence.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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Steven Thrasher, an assistant professor of journalism at Northwestern University, joined the protest.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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Protesters cluster on Deering Meadow.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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A protester holds a Palestinian flag.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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Protesters dance at Northwestern University.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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A Palestinian flag flies outside a tent encampment at Deering Meadow.
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Protesters dance.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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Protesters Sully S. (left) and Eden M. speak to reporters at Northwestern University’s Deering Meadow.|Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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Universities call in cops to break up demonstrations
Across the country, some universities have called in police to break up pro-Palestinian demonstrations, resulting in ugly scuffles and dozens of arrests. Other institutions appeared content to wait out the student protests, as the final days of the semester tick down and graduation ceremonies near.
At Emerson College in Boston, 108 people were arrested at an encampment overnight, and four police officers suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, Boston police said.
At Columbia University in New York, students defiantly erected an encampment where many are set to graduate in front of families in just a few weeks. Columbia continued to negotiate with students after several failed attempts — and more than 100 arrests — to clear the encampment.
The University of Southern California canceled its main stage graduation ceremony Thursday, a day after more than 90 protesters were arrested on campus, one for alleged assault with a deadly weapon. Tensions were already high after the university canceled a planned commencement speech by the school’s pro-Palestinian valedictorian, citing safety concerns.
Contributing: Audrey Hettleman, Cindy Hernandez, The Associated Press
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
On a mostly peaceful day, tensions briefly bubbled over when counter-protesters confronted the demonstrators at the university’s Edward Levi Hall. An altercation prompted campus police to respond.
Las protestas contra la guerra han invadido los campus universitarios en las últimas semanas. Los estudiantes apoyan a los palestinos en los ataques de Israel contra Gaza, denuncian lo que llaman censura por parte de sus universidades y piden a las instituciones que dejen de invertir en fabricantes de armas y empresas que apoyan a Israel.
Tensions were higher Tuesday when hundreds of New York police officers raided Columbia University and City College of New York while a group of counterprotesters attacked a student encampment at UCLA.
“I remember coming out of my apartment one day and spotting Chicago cops dragging young protesters out of one section of Lincoln Park and shoving them into trucks, while nearby poet Allen Ginsberg was chanting in a circle of peaceful protesters not far away from the radical Abby Hoffman,” remembers Dan Webb, who later became a U.S. attorney.
Anti-war protests have swept college campuses in recent weeks as students support Palestinians in Israel’s attacks on Gaza, decry what they call censorship from their universities and call on institutions to divest from weapons manufacturers and companies supporting Israel.
Hundreds of University of Chicago students set up an encampment in the Main Quadrangle on Monday, joining groups on over 100 university campuses nationwide in support of Palestinians.
“Bad actors are using the cover of free speech in this moment of tension to normalize dangerous ideas that cause real harm to Jewish students and communities,” the museum said. But a member of Chicago’s Jewish Voice for Peace said the protesters are saying what Jewish institutions are “afraid to say.”
As the death toll mounts in the war in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis worsens, protesters at universities all over the U.S. are demanding that schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies they say are enabling the conflict.
Hundreds of protesters from the University of Chicago, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Columbia College Chicago and Roosevelt University rallied in support of people living in Gaza.
The video is the first proof of life of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was captured Oct. 7 in southern Israel. His parents have Chicago ties. Last week, his mother was named one of Time magazine’s most influential people of 2024.
A window of the Andersonville feminist bookstore displaying a Palestine flag and a sign calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war was shattered early Wednesday. Police are investigating.
The Democratic president Wednesday reached the end of a long, painful battle with Republicans to secure urgently needed replenishment of aid for Ukraine.
Chicago Reps. Delia Ramirez, Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia and Jonathan Jackson, all Democrats and the most pro-Palestinian members of the Illinois delegation, voted no on aid to Israel. GOP Rep. Darin LaHood split from his party to support aid to Ukraine.
Democrats are deeply focused on Wisconsin and Michigan to help bolster President Joe Biden’s re-election chances — and officials, in town for meetings hosted by the Democratic National Convention Committee, say they plan on showing voters a deep party contrast.
Rachel Goldberg was named for her extensive campaign calling for the release of her son and the other hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7. She grew up in Streeterville.
The Rev. Frederick Haynes III, pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, took over as president and CEO of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition in February and had planned to run the organization from Texas.
“In the 45 years since ADL began tracking antisemitic incidents in 1979, it has never been this bad,” said ADL Midwest regional director David Goldenberg. According to a new report, Illinois saw a 74% increase in antisemitic incidents in 2023.
About 20 elected officials and community organizers discussed ways the city can combat antisemitism, though attendees said it was just the start of the conversation. Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th) said the gesture was ‘hollow.’
In the eighth, Michael Busch tripled, and Patrick Wisdom, who had homered earlier, singled him home for the run that proved to be the difference in the Cubs’ 6-5 win.
Ball had the $21.4 million option for next season, and exercised his option to stay with the Bulls. The hope is that he can overcome three left knee surgeries since 2022 and be available by fall camp, otherwise the Bulls might have to make some tough decisions on the guard in the final season of his four-year, $80-million deal.
Manager Craig Counsell said Suzuki likely will have a rehab assignment but Bellinger might not. Both could be activated from the injured list this week.
