CHICAGO — DePaul University students protesting against the Israel-Hamas war say school administrators have ended negotiations related to cutting ties with Israel or companies they say support the war.
Students also say university administrators indicated that they will take down the DePaul University encampment that has been up on the quad since April 30.
“Let me make one thing clear, I will be here with these students until DePaul divests. We are not going anywhere. I am here to protect with every ounce of my being that I have, these students right to protest and to do so without external forces interfering,” student body president Parveen Mundi said.
On Saturday night, the DePaul Divestment Coalition reiterated their demand that the university stop investing in Israel United.
The coalition said they are open to ongoing talks with school leaders about cutting ties with anyone supporting the war. But students allege that school administrators have ended negotiations, calling the matter a ‘stalemate.’
The DePaul encampment is one of hundreds set up on campuses across the country, where young people and supporters are calling on campus leaders to share details about investments connected to Israel and the Israel-Hamas war.
“We’re going to be here in full solidarity and we again are publicly asking the university president to continue the dialogue and asking the mayor of the City of Chicago to refrain from using the Chicago Police Department in any of these demonstrations, because they are peaceful they are moral and they are the right thing to do,’ Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward) said on Saturday night.
On Saturday, the university shared a message with the campus community that read in part:
“Since April 30, we have worked diligently to uphold our Vincentian ideals by identifying a resolution to the encampment in the quad on our Lincoln Park Campus. We are extremely disappointed to share that discussions with the Divestment Coalition student leaders are at an impasse.
Together with the Board of Trustees, we have worked to substantively respond to each of the demands the students have put forward. However, at this point, we are concerned that we are not on a path to understanding.”
Click Here to read the full statement from university officials.
Jewell Hillery
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