Northwestern University is among a number of universities who have been contending with large, occupying student protest events over the last several weeks. The protesters are demonstrating against Israel’s participation in the current war between Israel and Hamas, the governing authority of Palestine.
On April 29, Northwestern officials announced that they reached an “agreement” with protesting students, in which they have pledged to fund scholarships for Palestinian students and guest positions for Palestinian faculty members. The agreement aims to end a five-day-old encampment constructed by protesters in the Deering Meadow on Northwestern’s Evanston Campus.
According to WBBM-TV, the tent city began its deconstruction soon after Northwestern announced the agreement. Michael Schill, the President of Northwestern University, said in an email announcement that the agreement was the result of faculty and students working hard in collaboration with the administration to prevent the escalation and violent conduct that has been seen at other such protests across the country.
Under the terms of the agreement, “peaceful demonstrations” would be allowed to continue until the first of June so long as demonstrators comply with Northwestern’s security regulations. Further, further demonstrations will only be allowed to include faculty, staff, and students—no outside participants. The university will also fund two two-year chairs for Palestinian faculty members and five full-ride scholarships for visiting students from Palestine, all of whom are deemed “at-risk.”
Not all of the protesters were happy with the agreement, with some complaining that the deal was struck with a small group who is not representative of the protest movement as a whole.
Schill said that neither racism against Muslims and Arabs nor antisemitism and other acts of “hate” will be tolerated at the protests, and will be subject to sanction by the administration.
In an interview with WBBM, Abhi Nimmagadda, a Junior at Northwestern, said he was “very proud” and that his heart was full. He characterized the agreement as a “tremendous achievement” for those in the anti-Israel movement on campus.
