As of this morning (Saturday), our encampment is still up despite the University having received a third notice, this time from the Dean of Students, that the encampment is on its way out:
Yesterday I recounted what happened in the afternoon: the encamped protestors were charged by a group of students bearing American flags, who apparently wanted to raise Old Glory on the big University flagpole on the other side of the encampment. (The protestors had put up a Palestinian flag the other night, which the University removed.) The two groups of protestors met in the middle of the quad and there was a scuffle, but fortunately nobody was hurt.
Eventually the University Police showed up, some in riot gear, and separated the two groups of protestors, a smart move. The rest of yesterday’s events are recounted at The Chicago Maroon. You can find today’s events as they unfold at this Maroon site.
Here are a few photos and two videos from yesterday. First, a video of the two groups of protestors meeting in the center of the Quad:
And the University Police facing in both directions: towards the encampment and towards the people with American flags. There’s a view of the chanting protestors, with some linking arms around the encampment to prevent anybody getting in.
The picnic held by the University of Chicago Maroons for Israel. It was peaceful and the food was great (best hummus I’ve ever had in America).
I believe that some of those waving the flags were not Jewish Maroons, but anti-encampment “outside agitators”. They invaded the picnic and ate all the hummus!
Here are some demonstrators outside the encampment. As usual, nearly all of them cover their faces, clearly so they can’t be identified. That’s very different from the protestors of the Sixties, and takes some of the oomph out of their claim to be practicing civil disobedience, a form of protest in which you freely take the consequences of your unlawful actions as a form of moral suasion.
Encampment protestors linking arms around their Tent City:
And the University Police keeping the two groups of demonstrators apart:
Here they’re facing in both directions, a savvy move but clearly one that’s useful in such circumstances.
What everyone wants to know is this: Given that the University has now said in three separate statements that the encampment is no longer allowed here, when will they take it down? That is not going to be pretty, as the protestors have no intention, I think, of surrendering and leaving voluntarily, and now they are armed with shields that they clearly intend to use against the cops. This is the sixth day of the protest, and the number of Those Encamped, as well as their ire, continue to grow.
It would have been much better had the encampment been dismantled as soon as possible, but every passing day makes the inevitable consequence scarier and probably more violent. I think the administration initially regarded the protest as a sign of free speech, even though it violates the “time, place, and manner” restrictions on free expression, and they were loath to do anything about it for fear of tarnishing our image as The Free Speech School of America. But allowing illegal abrogations and violations of the rules is not freedom of expression; it only suppresses expression. One example is the protestors’ repeated vandalism and destruction of the banners and Israeli flags put up by the Jewish students. Those banners and flags constituted free speech supporting Israel, and were allowed by the administration.
It’s now become painfully apparent, as Dean Rasmussen’s note says above, that the encampment is not a viable or permissible form of speech on our campus. It really is time to take it down, and the sooner the better—at least for the University.
The University clearly would like this to go away quietly. We should start a pool on how long it is before a) they realize it won’t, b) decide to do something about, and c) actually do something about it.
That guy with the blue hair and the shield(?) looks like he got lost on his way to a Society for Creative Anachronism event. Must have misheard anarchism.
Gives the whole thing a kind of Dungeons & Dragons vibe.
It’s called Beautiful Trouble.
Thank you, Right, we can always count on you falling face-first into the dialectical traps that are set for you. Now you have made it about the United States.
As Billy Joel sings :
You had to be a big shot, dincha?
Separately: As Baudrillard asks about The Gulf War :
Are The 2024 Campus Protests Taking Place?
#Mystical Manipulation (RJ Lifton, 1961, ch. 22)
On Friday evening, USC President has issued a decisive statement about our encampment: “When laws and policies that apply to everyone are repeatedly and flagrantly violated—there must be consequences. This is an intense and highly charged time for the country and for many here at USC—I’m asking everyone to help, abide by all our security measures, and treat each other with empathy and respect. The university has initiated disciplinary review processes for individuals who have violated both our policies and the law. We will take any further actions required to maintain campus safety and security, consistent with our legal obligations.”
It is a good start, but it is unclear how long it would take to act on it.
Here are updates from USC:
https://voicesagainstantisemitism.substack.com/p/newsletter-may-3-2024
You mean there’s not definitive statement that they’re gonna take the encampment down at USC?
It’s great that a pro-USA group confronted the squatters, flying the flag of this nation. They know that surrounding the hate-Israel and hate-Jews causes are the hate-USA and hate-TheWest causes, all of which the squatters champion.
I’d bet the USA champions were not wearing masks.
+1, John
Hear, hear!
I wonder if the leaders of different professions have common characteristics or if different professions require special leadership characteristics or styles. What causes university leaders to dither in the face of group conflict? Would leaders in the military or first responder communities respond the same way? The business community? Governments? Don’t know the answers but most of the news about university leadership teams facing demonstrations this year has been about teams that failed their leadership tests. They have fiddled while their campuses began to implode as young fervent social justice warriors were increasingly emboldened to act with more and more aggression and entitlement.
Exactly. The qualities that make a good institutional leader are clearly not the qualities that are currently being selected for when it comes time to fill these roles.
Third time’s the harm?
If, as you say, it is the best hummus you have had in America, this is what you get.
Thank you Jerry.
I always found the best thing with protestors is not give them the pleasure of attention, just ignore them and only act if they break the law on anything apart from free speech.
I think that if you are hiding your face, you are doing something wrong. Legitimate protest doesn’t need to hide its face.