Chicago universities crack down on anti-Israel protests through revised protest policies
Many Chicago-area colleges, including DePaul, Loyola, Northwestern, and the University of Chicago, have updated their protest policies following disruptions caused by anti-Israel protests.
Some student activists, such as the president of DePaul’s Students for Justice in Palestine, have decried these changes as attempts to suppress protests.
Multiple Chicago-area colleges and universities have recently updated their policies on student protests in order to avoid the disruption that anti-Israel protests caused during the spring semester.
At DePaul University, Loyola University, and Northwestern University, student groups must now reserve certain protest spaces in advance, according to The Chicago Tribune.
The head of DePaul’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter, Henna Ayesh, has decried the policy update as a “scare tactic.”
“I think we’ve realized that with these new guidelines, it’s essentially just a scare tactic, and DePaul just does not want us to continue to protest or demand justice for our personal beliefs,” Ayesh said.
The University of Chicago also revised its protest policy, including by explicitly prohibiting “staying overnight in outdoor structures on campus” in order to avoid encampments.
“It’s not uncommon for colleges to review their policies over the summer and bring out new regulations,” said Laura Beltz, director of policy reform for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
Despite the new restrictions, anti-Israel student groups at the respective universities have pledged to continue their demonstrations.
“But after one year of genocide and police repression, we’re not going anywhere,” UChicago’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter posted to Instagram on Oct. 8 in an advertisement for two protests the group is organizing. “We’ll be building community and fighting until the total liberation of Palestine.”
DePaul’s SJP chapter additionally held a walkout in support of Palestine on Oct. 7, the anniversary of Hamas’ massacre against Israel.
“Yesterday, SJP DePaul and students participated in a walk-out to honor the 40,000+ Palestinians who were murdered at the hands of isr*el,” the group posted to Instagram. “As we read a 7+ page document full of martyred infants, the DePaul administration watched as students grieved during an emotional vigil, where some recollected their own families undergoing the current genocide, and their first response was to call CPD and threaten arrests.”
“In the past few weeks, we have witnessed the zionist entity escalate its infliction of terror and unimaginable horrors upon Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine,” Northwestern’s SJP chapter added in a post on Oct. 4. “This Oct. 7, join us in not only mourning the martyrs, but honoring the steadfast resistance that unflinchingly struggles against the imperial beast.”
Campus Reform has contacted DePaul University, Loyola University, Northwestern University, and the University of Chicago for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
