Colleges prepare for students to return after spring protests

DePaul University is preparing to reopen its campus Quad before students return for fall classes.

The Quad has been closed for about three months while workers repair damage from pro-Palestinian protests last spring. DePaul officials say workers have been fixing an estimated $180,000 worth of damage to the Quad and surrounding areas.

Protesters also set up encampments at the University of Illinois, Illinois State, Northwestern, the University of Chicago and other schools.

DePaul Professor Jason Hill told The Center Square that college administrators had to act when things went out of hand with vandalism and physical harm inflicted against Jewish students.

“Let’s not ever fool ourselves into thinking that the administrators on these campuses are for law and order. The students are the ventriloquists of the professoriate, of the administration,” Hill said.

Hill said he was listening for “Free Palestine, Free the hostages,” or some sort of reciprocity, but there wasn’t any.

“And you saw the trenchant harassment of Jewish students on campuses, the threats that were made against them,” Hill said.

Knives and other weapons were found at the protesters’ encampment. There were also allegations of harassment, intimidation and antisemitism.

Several Illinois colleges and universities have made adjustments after protesters disrupted classes and campus activities last spring. The University of Illinois made changes to its Campus Administrative Manual regarding university property and expressive activity on campus.

The first day of fall classes at DePaul is Sept. 4. Around the country, some protest groups and individuals have indicated that they plan to resume protests in the fall.

Hill said the protests were not simply pro-Palestinian.

“This was an issue in which the far left and the progressives used these encampment movements not just to register their protest against Israel, but also to register deep, anti-American, unpatriotic sentiments against the United States of America,” Hill explained.