CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - On Friday afternoon, the University of Chicago issued a safety alert, asking the community to avoid the Main Quad as tensions rise at the pro-Palestinian encampment on campus.
The university tweeted shortly after 1:00 p.m. that there were reports of physical altercations at the site of a student group's tent encampment.
WBBM's Sarah Herrera reported that Chicago Police officers as well as campus security were attempting to keep separation between pro-Palestinian protesters and those supporting Israel.
Around 3:30 p.m., the scene began to calm down. People were walking around, eating and enjoying music as it appeared the protest wrapped up. Around 50 tents were still up.
This afternoon's activity comes on the fifth day of the UChicago United for Palestine's (UCUP) demonstration. Student organizers said they along with two faculty members met with university President President Paul Alivisatos and Provost Katherine Baicker Thursday to discuss their demands but failed to come to an agreement.
The group said they and the school are at an "impasse."
"It is clear to UCUP that the University is negotiating in bad faith. UCUP refuses to accept President Alivisatos' repeated condescending offer of a public forum to discuss 'diverse viewpoints' on the genocide, as this is clearly a poor attempt at saving face without material change," said Christopher Iacovetti, a student who participated in negotiations.
Meantime, Alivisatos issued a statement Friday morning saying that the encampment has to end.
In a message to the university community Friday, Alivisatos accused the group of destroying an "approved installation" of Israeli flags, vandalism and graffiti on buildings, incorporating walkways into the encampment and flying the Palestinian flag on a university flagpole. He also said police had been patrolling the area less as they were diverted to the encampment, and that it had created a "systematic disruption" of the campus.
He added the protester's demands were "such that we could not accede."
"Out of principle we provide the greatest leeway possible for free expression, even expression of viewpoints that some find deeply offensive, even in rare cases at the expense of some policy violations — for a time," he wrote in the statement. "But the encampment cannot continue."
Chicago Sun-Times Media wire contributed to this report.
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