Campus encampment is gone, but protest conversation continues at UI trustees meeting

May 17—CHAMPAIGN — Even with the semester over and most students home for the summer, pro-Palestine protests are still at the forefront of conversations at the University of Illinois.

Urbana-Champaign agenda items for Thursday's UI Board of Trustees meeting mainly involved name changes for departments and programs, but comments from both the board and the public centered around recent events on campus.

"I know the past few weeks, and really this entire semester, brought challenges to universities around the country," said Chancellor Robert Jones. "The events of the world have intersected sometimes with great intensity with the local lived experiences of those who have come to this campus to learn, to study, to work and to play."

However, Jones went on to speak about celebrations that come at the end of the semester: commencement and successes for recent graduates.

UI President Tim Killeen likewise shone a spotlight on recent grads after a mention of "real tension" on campus, while board President Don Edwards commended university administration for how it handled this "challenging moment."

"We're equally proud of our student body who have successfully continued their academic pursuits and proud of our faculty who have continued to teach and mentor our students with excellence and with care," Edwards said.

"We must continue with the business of the people, which is to make sure our university provides a world-class education at an affordable price to our residents. Our work as a board goes on even in these most difficult moments."

A large portion of the audience at the meeting wore keffiyehs or shirts designating their support for Palestine, applauding those who provided public comment calling for the UI to treat students differently or divest from companies with ties to Israel.

Kathryn Clancy, an anthropology professor, told the board she has received hate mail in relation to her support for the encampment on the Main Quad.

"Many claims have been made about violent or antisemitic behavior at the 'Popular University of Gaza' on campus — behavior I have not witnessed even once despite spending somewhere between five to 15 hours there a day," she said.

"Instead, I've seen a lot of hateful behavior coming from the other direction."

Clancy said the messages she received felt more personal than hate mail sent to her over research on sexual harassment or anti-racist work because the individuals sending them were identifiable as people living here in Illinois.

She called for the board to collaborate with UI chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine and Faculty for Justice in Palestine on an investment policy which would include "divestment from those who profit off of war," alongside increased transparency.

Another anthropology professor, Helaine Silverman, addressed the board with her perspective as a Jewish faculty member and urged them to make a statement emphasizing how the university benefits "significantly from engagement with Israel's extraordinarily advanced sectors in technology, engineering, science, agriculture, medicine and education."

"The pro-Hamas encampment here, with its antisemitic slogans, became a constant source of distress and apprehension to many silent Jewish students, faculty and staff walking around the quad," Silverman said.

"In addition to the protesters' words of hate, many protesters wore face masks, like bandits, thereby projecting an aura of intimidation."

Other commenters also shared support for the student protesters, asking the board to pursue divestment measures as laid out by FJP and SJP.

Outside of this focus on recent protests, Thursday's meeting included:

* A goodbye to student trustees Sanchita Teeka, Mohammed Haq and Kyle Ingram. Teeka represented the Urbana-Champaign campus over the 2023-24 school year.

* Approval for the Computer Science Department to become the Siebel School of Computing and Data Science.

* Approval for Biology Master's and Ph.D. programs to be renamed the Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior programs.

* Elimination of the Master of Science in Special Education, since the Master of Education in Special Education has taken its place.