During SJP’s rally on the Main Quad on Monday titled “Hands off Rafah: Solidarity with our Students,” The Daily Illini spoke with a University faculty member who wished to remain anonymous for safety concerns.
**This interview has been edited for length and clarity.**
DI: Could you tell me a little bit about why you are out here with the rest of the faculty members today?
Faculty member: I’m out here for several different reasons. One is to support students that are in the encampment, who are trying to challenge the ongoing genocide in Gaza and elsewhere. Another is to keep the spotlight on what’s going on in Palestine, particularly in Rafah.
I’m here to call on the higher administration to honor their promises to meet with the students, to listen to them and to find a way to divest our institution of higher learning from supporting the war machines in those lands.
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The last reason is to ensure that the students who are taking up this noble cause are not in any way punished for doing so.
DI: Have you been a part of the conversations with the administration and the students?
Faculty member: I have.
DI: And how do you think those are going currently?
Faculty member: We are discouraged that the administration has repeatedly failed to meet with the students after making promises to do so.
DI: How do you feel about the state representatives coming in today with the Jewish community?
Faculty member: I do want to say this: I think there are plenty of Jewish students that are in these encampments and they support this cause.
I think it’s a misrepresentation to suggest that there’s some kind of clear binary between those of us who are supporting this and those who are trying to “protect the Jewish students from harm or harassment” — that’s not clear. At least it’s not neat. Indeed, there’s a long history of critical Jewish dissent, and several Jewish colleagues and students who support us.
DI: Have you seen any sort of progress in the conversations with Jim Hintz?
Faculty member: I mean, I’m glad to see the police aren’t around like they were last Friday. It was a rather surreal experience to see several different police forces encircle families, people engaged in prayer and students engaged in non-violent protest.
So yeah, there’s been progress in that respect. The camps are still here, and there’s been no move to push them off yet.
That said, I really want to reiterate this — we need upper administration, whom Hintz and others are in conversation with, to honor their agreements to meet with the students of SJP.
DI: How did you gain the students’ trust with you being here? What was the process like of you joining the students’ side?
Faculty member: Not sure what you’re asking me there. I mean, I show up — I guess the best way to put it; I listen to them. I respect them. I work with them closely.
Illinois State Representatives Bob Morgan, Daniel Didech and Tracy Katz Muhl gave a press conference at the north end of the Main Quad in solidarity with Jewish students at the University.
The Daily Illini spoke with Tracy Katz Muhl, representative of the 57th District, who gave a comment on the encampment and conversations with University administration.
**This interview has been edited for length and clarity.**
DI: You met with the University administration earlier, can you tell me a little bit about the conversations that you had with them?
Muhl: The administration invited the three of us this morning to go over how things have unrolled, their security plans and their graduation plans. That’s front of mind for the families back home in the district. We get a lot of messages right now asking for a safe and meaningful graduation for the students who missed it during COVID-19. I was happy to hear that that’s already happened at the Chicago campus.
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DI: How do you feel about the encampment that has been going on on campus for the past week?
Muhl: I respect and honor all students’ right to protest both sides of the lawn here and count on the University to enforce the safety rules that they put in place to make sure everybody can do that properly.
Illinois State Representatives Bob Morgan, Daniel Didech and Tracy Katz Muhl gave a press conference at the north end of the Main Quad in solidarity with Jewish students at the University.
The Daily Illini spoke with Morgan, representative for the 58th District, about antisemitism on university campuses and his conversations with the University administration.
**This interview has been edited for length and clarity.**
DI: What made you come down here today?
Morgan: As a U of I grad, I always want to come to campus, but in particular, since October 7, it’s been very difficult. Over the last six years since I’ve been the state representative, there have been a number of antisemitic incidents on campus — antisemitism happening outside of the classroom and more troubling inside the classroom. We’ve been working closely with University leaders, Hillel and Chabad to make sure we’re supporting any way we can. A lot of Jewish students that I hear from and their families are concerned about campus, concerned about finals, concerned about commencement and concerned about the world. It’s a little thing just showing up, but showing solidarity is something that we were able to do on our way to Springfield.
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DI: You guys met with the University administration earlier. Can you tell me about those conversations you had?
Morgan: Without getting into specifics, we’ve had a lot of conversations over the last six years with the University, and I would say our message has been pretty consistent: reassuring the safety of Jewish students in the classroom first, on campus as well and doing what we can to make sure we are protecting students and protecting free speech, which at this moment is sometimes challenging. Commencement is again on the minds of a lot of families around not just the U of I campus but around the country, and just making sure the University is planning for that and doing its part to make sure Jewish students are feeling safe.
DI: Did you guys talk about the encampment during your meeting with the administration?
Morgan: Not particularly. Again, this is about Jewish students feeling safe on campus; that’s why we’re here. We can only do so much as people who are not students but people who are here to bring the weight of legislature and elected officials who are Jewish to show that we are paying attention and we care; we are thinking of them and showing them they are not alone. I remember — as a Jewish student — when the Intifada broke out, and there were very significant protests that happened on campus. There were Israeli flags that were burned and sprayed with red paint, there was a casket of a pretend baby carried around the campus, there were a lot of chants that were very harmful and there were swastikas that were put on campus. I remember what that feels like, and I remember the benefit and the importance of having those around me demonstrating that they’re there to support me and show that support; that’s what we’re doing.
At noon, Illinois State Representatives Bob Morgan, Daniel Didech and Tracy Katz Muhl gave a press conference at the north side of the Main Quad to express solidarity for Jewish students at the University.
The Daily Illini spoke with Daniel Didech, representative for the 59th District, about his views on University administration, the encampment and the role of First Amendment rights in protests.
**This interview has been edited for length and clarity.**
DI: What was the reason for you coming down to Champaign-Urbana?
Didech: We are here today to show support for really the entire University community, but specifically the Jewish community that, not just in Illinois, but across the country, has been alarmed by the rise in some of the uncontrollable campus demonstrations.
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So we’re here to lend our voices to the University administration and the faculty and the students to express our beliefs that we can respect the First Amendment rights of all students to make their voices heard. But, at the same time, everybody has to follow the University policies, and there should be consequences for people who don’t follow the University policies.
DI: You met with the administration earlier before your press conference, can you tell me a little bit about what you talked about?
Didech: We, myself as a legislator and the entire Jewish caucus, have a relationship with the administration that we consider a partnership. We’ve met with them at least half a dozen times over the past few years to talk about the rise of antisemitism on campus and what they can do and how we can be partners in addressing that. It’s the same thing we talked about today.
How can we continue to allow Universities to be a place where people can speak their minds and persuade people and have their voices heard, but without turning it into an environment where Jewish students and their parents feel like it’s not safe for them to be on campus.
That is the continuing conversation that we are involved in with the University administration today.
DI: At the press conference, students representatives of Jews from Palestine are here holding signs. Can you give me a statement about that?
Didech: They absolutely have the right, just like anybody else, to make their voices heard and to advocate for a cause that’s important to them. But, we have to make sure that everybody has those rights, right?
You know, some of the problems we’ve seen on other campuses with these permanent encampments is they monopolize the public forums — you’re only allowed to express your views if they fall within what that group believes is the correct view. I think we need to avoid it here at the University of Illinois.
It is absolutely legitimate. I think this is the right place for people who feel that way about an international conflict to express their views, but people who feel a different way should have the same right to express their views as well. Or even if they don’t want to express their views, they should be able to do what they need to do without a constant stream of disruption.
