Tent Tension: Northwestern's Private Security Force Fails To Clear Gaza Solidarity Camp

EVANSTON, IL — Hundreds of demonstrators converged Thursday morning at Deering Meadow on Northwestern University's Evanston campus, where pro-Palestinian protestors endeavored to establish an encampment.

They were met with a strong showing from the university's private security force, which began trying to remove the tents almost immediately.

Northwestern's president then claimed the encampment had been cleared — a statement that was contradicted almost immediately.

The demonstrators demanded the private university "stop supporting Israeli apartheid and occupation," circulating a resolution asking the administration to divest its $14.1 billion endowment from the weapons industry and "from all companies that support Israeli apartheid."

Organizers from the groups NU Educators for Justice in Palestine, NU Students for Justice in Palestine and NU Jewish Voice for Peace also demanded an end to the Israeli Innovation Project, which was founded in 2020 and is aimed at increasing collaboration with academic institutions in Israel.

Their resolution's other, more plausible demand was that University President Michael Schill protect the civil liberties of students and condemns harassment and censorship, specifically of pro-Palestine speech.

Schill responded to the protest with a message announcing an "interim addendum" to the student handbook, changing the school's demonstration policy.

It prohibits all unpermitted "installation of tents or other temporary structures on University property," any affixing of flyers other than to lampposts and outdoor bulletin boards and any unauthorized light projections, while reserving the right to "limit demonstrations to specific times and locations if it determines such limitations are necessary."

In his message, the university president said students had asked his administration for guidance about what kind of on-campus activism is acceptable.

"In Evanston, we have seen peaceful protests that have interfered with classes in nearby buildings, as well as chalkings, flyers, banners and chants that many have found hateful, intimidating, offensive and difficult to avoid," Schill said.

Schill said he planned to discuss the new rules with his advisory committees on preventing antisemitism and hate and on free expression and institutional speech.

Both advisory committees were established after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed more than 1,100 Israelis and foreigners, mostly civilians, and led to the capture of nearly 250 Israelis. About 100 hostages were released by Hamas during a weeklong truce in November, and Israeli authorities believe there are about 100 others still alive in Gaza.

Since then, the Israeli military retaliation has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's health ministry, which does not differentiate from combatants and civilians.

"We understand that many in our community are hurting right now, as the war in the Middle East continues, and that many have strong, deeply held beliefs that guide their response to the war," Schill said the statement announcing the changes to Northwestern's protest policy. "Our hope is that with this amended policy, we can navigate the remainder of the school year — and beyond — together, and with a clearer sense of how we, as a University, can peacefully engage."

Schill asserted that some demonstrators removed their tents voluntarily, while others were issued citations by the university's private police force and had their tents removed by school employees.

According to a timeline from school's student newspaper, The Daily Northwestern, all tents were indeed taken down by 8:30 a.m., as university officials demanded. But by 10 a.m., more than 20 tents were back up.

Aerial images showed hundreds of demonstrators surrounding the tents, and videos showed members of Northwestern's private police force pushing protestors who had linked arms.

Steven Thrasher, a journalism professor and member of NU Educators for Justice in Palestine, posted an update to social media shortly after 11 a.m. announcing that the protestors had "successfully held the line and defended the camp."

Thrasher said authorities were able to take a couple of tents following a brief attempt at negotiation between university security forces and protestors.

"I heard that email went out from the university saying that citations had been issued and all the tents have been removed," Thrasher said, as he panned his phone's camera to the cluster of remaining tents. "The tents have not all been removed."

The establishment of a Gaza solidarity encampment follows similar student-led protests across the country, including at Columbia University in New York, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and others.

On Wednesday, about 57 people were jailed and charged with trespassing following violent arrests by state police at the University of Texas at Austin. More than 90 were arrested during a protest at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and more than 100 students were arrested overnight at an encampment in an alley at Emerson College in Boston.

An Evanston police spokesperson said officers from the municipal police department have not been involved in efforts by Northwestern's private police force, NUPD, to clear the encampment.

The last marked NUPD car left the scene shortly after noon.

Earlier in the school year, university security officials faced widespread backlash for pressing criminal charges against a pair of students who created an anti-Israel parody of the student newspaper. The Cook County State's Attorney's Office later dropped the charges.