The University of Chicago's president said Friday that the development of pro-Palestinian forces on the campus' Quad is “unsustainable.” The university has long held its position as a national model for freedom of expression, a position that has come under intense scrutiny in higher education circles.
Administrators initially took a lenient approach to the camps, pointing to what is known as the Chicago Statement, a set of free speech standards adopted in 2015 that is a national It serves as a touchstone and guideline for the university. But President Paul Alivisatos said Friday that those protections are not absolute and that the camp violates university policy.
“On Monday, I said I would only intervene if what might have been an exercise of free expression interfered with the learning or expression of others or materially interfered with the functioning or safety of the university,” Dr. Alivisatos said. said in a message to campus. . “We reached that point without any agreement to end the encampment.”
As at dozens of universities across the country, Chicago students erected tents on campus and made a series of demands from administrators, including divestment from weapons manufacturing companies. Members of Chicago United for Palestine, the group leading the camp, accused the university of “negotiating in bad faith” in a statement Friday.
Christopher Iacovetti, a student who took part in the demonstration, said: “Protesters have refused to accept President Alivisatos' repeated and condescending proposals to create a public forum to discuss “diverse views'' on genocide. This is clearly an inappropriate attempt to save face without making any substantive changes.” negotiation.
Dr. Alivisatos, a chemist who took over as university president in 2021, said in a message to the campus that the encampment has become more than just a collection of tents. He accused the protesters of vandalizing buildings, blocking sidewalks, destroying an Israeli flag installed nearby and hoisting a Palestinian flag on the university's flagpole.
“The encampment caused organized chaos on campus,” Dr. Alivisatos said. “Protesters are monopolizing areas of the main quad at the expense of other members of our community. The obvious policy violations will only increase.”
The University of Chicago, one of the most selective private universities in the United States, has been praised by conservatives and free speech advocates in recent years for its approach to expression on campus.
As part of its philosophy of free speech, the university also advocated the principle of institutional neutrality.
In its 1967 declaration, the university called for the school to remain neutral on political and social issues, and the campus was “the home and sponsor of the critic; the home and patron of the critic.” said. Not a critic per se. ” But at other universities, students have frequently and successfully pressured officials over the years to take positions on issues such as police brutality and global warming.
In August 2016, the University of Chicago notified new students: “We do not support so-called trigger warnings, we do not cancel invited speakers because of potentially controversial topics, and we do not support the creation of intellectually safe spaces in which individuals can freely participate. “We retreat from ideas and perspectives that are at odds with our own.” ”
A version of the university's Declaration of Free Speech Principles has been adopted by dozens of other universities in recent years.
“In short, the university's fundamental commitment is to ensure that some or most members of the university community believe that the ideas raised are offensive, unwise, immoral or wrong-headed. “In order to ensure that debate and deliberation are not suppressed,'' the declaration said.
But the statement also laid out clear restrictions, including the right to prohibit illegal conduct or speech that “represents genuine intimidation or harassment.”