1 arrested, protesters pepper-sprayed at University of Chicago graduation

One person was arrested Saturday amid a protest against the Gaza war at the University of Chicago as the South Side school held graduation ceremonies.

Around 11 a.m., a “small number of protesters became violent” as they tried to access a cordoned-off area near 59th Street and University Avenue, school officials said in a statement.

One person, who the university said was not affiliated with the school, was arrested on assault charges, the statement said.

Officials have not released additional details.

Amid the ceremonies, several students walked out in protest of the war “without incident,” school officials said.

“The university is fundamentally committed to supporting the rights of students to express a wide range of views,” said school spokesman Gerald McSwiggan, who said the ceremonies continued without interruption.

The protests came a day after university professors and 16 City Council members claimed the school was circumventing its own disciplinary process to withhold the degrees of pro-Palestinian student protesters after an ad hoc chair was suddenly added to disciplinary committee to oversee their cases. .

A student protester, who asked not to be named, said some students and families walked out of the convocation — a ceremony where university administrators speak before groups of students attend smaller graduation ceremonies.

At a later rally, police set up barricades and used pepper spray against about a dozen people during a confrontation with protesters as police tried to arrest people in the crowd, the student said.

The student said the person arrested was the parent of a graduate student. The university did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Students left because the school is withholding diplomas and because there is no graduation in Gaza,” the student said, referring to the closure of schools in Gaza since the start of the war.

Israel launched its military offensive in Gaza after a surprise attack on October 7 by Hamas militants that killed more than 1,200 people, mostly Israeli civilians. The militants took hostages and several hundred people.