Northwestern students set up pro-Palestinian encampment as university changes protest policy

The Northwestern University Police Department was quick to address the growing crowd early Thursday morning.

Northwestern students are asking for the university administration to publicly disclose where the university invests and divest from funding weapons for Israel.

“We pay $100,000 here to go here and that’s $100,000 that could be going straight to God knows where and the university does not disclose that information, which is just unacceptable,” said a Northwestern undergraduate student, who was a lead organizer for Thursday’s protest. She declined to disclose her name to the Tribune for fear of retribution from the university.

Students began setting up tents as early as 7 a.m. Videos circulated on social media show uniformed police threatening to remove tents and arrest students for breaking university policies.

The lead student organizer said several police cars surrounded the students, which she said was an “unnecessary” and “outrageous” reaction to free speech on campus.

As of noon, no students had been arrested by university police, students said.

According to students, police tried to disperse the crowd by saying they needed a “reservation” to demonstrate on the quad and use a bullhorn, as outlined in the less than 12-hour-old policy.

“The University is in active discussions with the demonstrators to ensure the safety of members of the Northwestern community while also providing a space for free expression,” Jon Yates, vice president for global marketing and communications at Northwestern University said in an email to the Tribune.

A Northwestern student participating in the protest said he was unaware of the protest policy change but was not surprised as widespread media attention has focused on college campus protests around the country.

The encampment was mostly peaceful after police backed up, allowing the tents to stay on the quad. Tensions rose briefly when a protester walked up to a man holding American and Israeli flags across the street, stealing the flags and taking them back to the tents.

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