Protester encampment at DePaul remains after university officials say negotiations with protesters have stalled

CHICAGO — Protesters and their encampment remain on the DePaul University campus after university leaders over the weekend said their negotiations with student protesters have stalled.

The protesters, known as the DePaul Divestment Coalition, are protesting the Israel-Hamas war and demanding that the university cut ties with Israel, or with companies that protesters say support the war.

DePaul’s administration wanted the encampment that has been up on the quad since April 30 dismantled by noon Sunday, but the students have not agreed to that and are accusing the administration of making vague threats, as their occupation of the quad continued for a 14th day Monday and moves into a third week.

Student protesters also say they invited a mediator and the university administration to resume negotiations at 11 a.m. Monday, but they told WGN News that the mediator accepted the invitation but did not show up, and nobody from the administration showed up for that session, either.

As of early Monday afternoon, no new meeting time had been proposed to resume negotiations.

Chicago police were on the DePaul campus Sunday to help de-escalate tensions between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel groups. The Chicago Jewish Alliance held a solidarity event at West Fullerton Avenue and North Halsted Street.

“We are here to put an end to this,” said Anna Steinberg, co-founder of the Chicago Jewish Alliance. “To put an end to the harassment, to put an end to the violence, and to say, ‘Enough.’

“Let’s just let everyone go to school. Let’s let Jews and non-Jews and whites and Blacks and everybody just go about their lives. That’s really all we want.”

The DePaul encampment is one of hundreds set up on campuses across the country, where young people and supporters are calling on campus leaders to share details about investments connected to Israel and the Israel-Hamas war. The campus on DePaul’s quad is the last protester encampment to remain standing in the Chicago area.

At the University of Chicago last week, police raided and dismantled encampments set up by students protesting Israel’s war on Gaza on the school’s main quad.

Student protesters at DePaul say they don’t believe the same thing will play out at their encampments.

“I feel less fearful that that might happen here, knowing that we’re the only encampment, and longest-standing encampment, left in Chicago,” DePaul student body president and protest leader Parveen Mundi said.

Negotiations stalled

In a statement Saturday shared with the campus community, DePaul President Robert L. Manuel and Provost Salma Ghanem said that, despite the efforts of university officials to reach an agreement with the protesters over the last 12 days, negotiations have stalled.

“Since April 30, we have worked diligently to uphold our Vincentian ideals by identifying a resolution to the encampment in the quad on our Lincoln Park campus,” says the statement, in part, from Manuel and Ghanem.

“We are extremely disappointed to share that discussions with the Divestment Coalition student leaders are at an impasse.”

For more coverage of the Israel and Hamas Conflict, click here

The protesters at DePaul have reiterated their intent to stand their ground.

“Let me make one thing clear: I will be here with these students until DePaul divests (from ties with Israel),” Mundi said. “We are not going anywhere. I am here to protect with every ounce of my being that I have, these students’ right to protest, and to do so without external forces interfering.”

On university officials saying negotiations have reached an impasse, Mundi said, “It’s unsurprising to see how quick the administration was to declare that stalemate, considering that they won’t even consider putting themselves in the shoes and using the language of Palestinians themselves.”

Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward) also expressed his solidarity with the Divestment Coalition.

“We’re going to be here in full solidarity, and we again are publicly asking the university president to continue the dialogue and asking the mayor of the City of Chicago to refrain from using the Chicago Police Department in any of these demonstrations, because they are peaceful, they are moral, and they are the right thing to do,” Sigcho-Lopez said Saturday night.

Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines

List of demands

The Divestment Coalition has issued a list of 10 demands to DePaul’s administration, including that the university call the war in Gaza a genocide.

In its response to that demand, the university says it’s “clearly against the death and killing of all innocent people — Palestinians, Israelis and others — that has occurred since Oct. 7” but that “the question of whether a genocide is occurring is a question of international law and fact.”

On Saturday, Manuel released a lengthy statement updating the university’s original responses to the Divestment Coalition’s 10 demands.

Those responses were communicated by Manuel to the university community, first on May 6 (view HERE) and then again on Saturday with an update (view HERE).

At the top of the updated responses, the university notes: “The following message was delivered to the Divestment Coalition at 8:47 a.m. on Saturday, May 11. At the time of publication, 8 p.m. on May 11, the coalition has not accepted these terms.”

In their subsequent statement, Manuel and Ghanem said the university has attempted to negotiate with the Divestment Coalition in good faith. But they say those efforts don’t seem to be leading anywhere right now.

“Together with the Board of Trustees, we have worked to substantively respond to each of the demands the students have put forward,” the statement reads, in part. “However, at this point, we are concerned that we are not on a path to understanding.

“… For the past 12 days, we have been determined to lead as humanists and pragmatists, using our Catholic, Vincentian mission. We believe students with the Divestment Coalition initiated the encampment with sincere intentions to peacefully protest. However, the responses to the encampment have inadvertently created public safety issues that put our community at risk.”

Click HERE to read the full statement from university officials.

Protest organizers have said until their demands are met, they’re not leaving.

“We are completely willing to leave when DePaul meaningfully divests (from Israel),” Simran Bains said. “We’ve had very clear demands from the beginning.”

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