Representatives from five organizations affiliated with the University of Chicago, including a representative from the Laboratory Schools Faculty Association, came together for a rally at 9 a.m. on Nov. 7 at the entrance to the UChicago Main Quad to demand action from the university regarding the presence of federal immigration agents in the neighborhoods surrounding campus.
The organizations’ five demands included posting signs on every UChicago building stating that federal agents cannot enter without a warrant, hosting regular “know your rights” educational sessions and committing to use the cAlert system to notify the community about the presence of federal agents. The group called on the university president, Paul Alivisatos, personally to act on these demands.
Along with a Faculty Association member, representatives from the American Association of University Professors, Graduate Students United, National Nurses United and Service Employees International Union Local 73 each spoke, outlining the impact of the presence of immigration agents on members of their organization.
Quinn Menchetti, a Lab P.E. teacher, represented Lab faculty and spoke about Lab students.
“I’m here to tell you,” Mr. Menchetti said in his speech, “that many of those students are afraid and that they’re not overreacting and that they haven’t been indoctrinated. They know well enough from their humanities, their history and their home room classes that when unidentified, masked men are wandering the streets of their hometowns stuffing people in the back of rental cars, that something is deeply and seriously wrong.”
Mr. Menchetti highlighted that the presence of immigration agents has created an environment of fear in the community. Faculty have adapted through policy changes, including the decision to stop blowing whistles during recess, since whistles are often used to warn people about the presence of immigration agents.
“They’ve watched their own blocks, in their neighborhood daycares and outside their places of worship, as people who look like them and talk like them have been disappearing on the basis of how they look and talk,” Mr. Menchetti said.
After a UChicago international student was stopped and briefly detained in Hyde Park on Oct. 15, the university issued several statements advising the community to carry documents proving legal residence, remain calm and alert the University of Chicago Police Department if they interact with federal agents.
Representatives asserted that this action is not enough and that UChicago has a responsibility to better protect the community.
“We call on the University of Chicago and its Laboratory Schools to join us in our civic and academic duty and to take simple actions that allow kids to read and play and grow in peace,” Mr. Menchetti said, “to fulfill their historical role in the battle for free and fair societies.”
