Chicago City Wire

University of Chicago President Paul Alivisatos challenged protestors for building tent city “encampments” on the school’s campus, calling their actions “a way of using force of a kind rather than reason to persuade others.”

Alivisatos issued a statement Tuesday.

“I believe the protesters should also consider that an encampment, with all the etymological connections of the word to military origins, is a way of using force of a kind rather than reason to persuade others,” he wrote. “If necessary, we will act to preserve the essential functioning of the campus against the accumulated effects of these disruptions.”

Student protests at the University of Chicago campus began on Monday, April 29. Pro-Palestinian protesters set up over 40 tents at the beginning of their protest on the quad, saying they would stay as long as it took to stop the war between Israel and Hamas. 

Similar protests are occurring at campuses across the country, including at the University of Illinois at Champaign, and at Northwestern. 

The goal of the protesters at U of C are to have the University divest from any institutions that support “the Gaza genocide and Israeli institutions” as well as disclose any investments that might benefit Israel, according to ABC News Chicago.

Jewish students have started small response protests, but anonymous students have also reported feeling unsafe amid the pro-Palestine protests.