Northwestern University students who set up an encampment on Dearing Meadow for five days reportedly agreed with the school Monday afternoon to take it down.
But the agreement permits continued protests on the meadow through June 1.
The deal is expected to see removal of tents from the site and compliance with other university rules and policies.
In the agreement the school promised to provide a mechanism for the students to engage with the investment committee of the board of trustees and to re-establish an advisory committee on investment responsibility to include students, faculty and staff.
As of 4:30 p.m. there still were many tents up on the meadow, and students who had participated in the protest over Israel’s invasion of Palestine were meeting to discuss the agreement with school officials.
But the stage, which had been the scene of speeches and chants since the protest began on Thursday, was empty.
University President Michael Schill and other officials issuing the statement said the agreement “addresses our commitment to protect the safety of our entire community and to ensure the ongoing academic operations of our campus while adhering to our support for free expression.”
The real losers in the disbandment of the Northwestern protest are Doordash, UberEats, REI/Dick’s ($200 tents and pop-up canopies), and Home Depot ($20-50 tarps). As a parent providing financial support to two college students, I suspect this spectacle has largely been funded by their parents.
I think everyone loses. The students. The administration. The university. The city. The state. The nation. The world.
We all lose as people find solace in smaller & smaller like-minded groups. Tribal groupings cannot govern a democracy or the world.
In the end, even the very people who supported this protest may eventually find themselves marginalized within an even smaller tribe.
If you can’t forgive me for my cynicism & pessimism, at least *try* to understand my long-view of the trajectory of humankind.