DePaul’s ongoing encampment, Annual Poetry Fest, and Cinco de Mayo parade disrupted due to gang violence
Plus, multiple rounds of storms to hit Chicago area
Welcome back to ‘In the Loop’! We’ve got a good one for you today. It’s your newsletter team — Alexandra, Ella, Aidan, Sam, Annabelle, Elizabeth and Emily — back with another Monday night newsletter to start off your week!
First, 14 East management has closely been covering the DePaul encampment over the course of the week. Tonight, we provide a brief timeline of events of what we know so far about the demonstration. Look out for more in-depth coverage of the DePaul encampment on the 14 East Website here. Also, 14 East Staff Writer Ella McCoy attended the Harold Washington Library 25th Annual Poetry Fest where author Ada Limón made an appearance. In other Chicago news, the Cinco de Mayo parade in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood was disrupted on Sunday due to gang violence.
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Tonight’s newsletter is sponsored by DePaul’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies.
With that, let’s get into tonight’s news!
DePaul News: What we know so far about DePaul’s ongoing encampment
By Alexandra Murphy
14 East management have been covering the DePaul encampment over the last week since DePaul University students and organizers first set up tents across the Lincoln Park Campus Quad. Here is a timeline of information we have on the ongoing encampment so far.
Around 10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 30, eight DePaul student organizations swiftly set up an encampment demanding that DePaul University divest and cut ties with Israel. The organizations include the Student Government Association, Movimiento Estudiantil de Solidaridad y Apoyo, Black Student Union, Native American and Indigenous Student Association, Students for Justice in Palestine at DePaul University, Jews for Justice, Students Against Incarceration, and Southwest Asian and North African Student Association.
According to a joint Instagram post made by SJP DePaul, AMP Chicago and the DPU Divest Coalition, this encampment will remain until their demands are met by the DePaul administration. The demands are also outlined on the SJP Instagram. They include labeling the Israel-Palestine conflict a genocide, joining the city of Chicago in calling for a ceasefire, establishing an ethical advisory team on investment responsibility, creating an Arab/Swana student center and providing amnesty to protestors.
This encampment follows University of Chicago students setting tents up a day prior along with other demonstrations in Chicago and around the country.
Hamas, which controls Gaza, attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing an estimated 1,200 Israelis and taking around 240 people hostage. The Israeli military has since conducted more than six months of military action in Gaza, including large-scale airstrikes and raids. More than 34,500 people have been killed in Gaza, including more than 13,000 children, according to Palestinian health officials. The United Nations says “hundreds of thousands” more could die if Israel goes forward with a planned invasion of the city of Rafah.
Following the creation of DePaul’s encampment, the office of President Robert L. Manuel sent out an email acknowledging the demonstration while urging students to remain peaceful.
“Again, peaceful protest long has been a legitimate means of expression at DePaul,” the email read. The email also stated that any actions of violence, harassment or intimidation would result in disciplinary action, which could include suspension or expulsion.
Originally, around 150 students took part in setting up the encampment on the quad, but this number has since grown over the past week. Some faculty, staff members and people from outside the university have also joined students in protesting on the quad.
One group of faculty members had pins that said, “I work for the students, not the endowment.”
“It’s long overdue, but I’m so glad that students took this initiative,” said Kaveh Ehsani, associate professor of international studies.
Associate Professor of English Marcy Dinius said some faculty sent an open letter to President Manuel and Provost Salma Ghanem on April 29, urging DePaul administration to keep students safe. The letter has since collected 133 signatures from DePaul faculty and staff as of May 4, according to an Instagram post by DePaul Faculty for Justice in Palestine.
On Thursday, media representatives for SJP Henna Ayesh and Yasmine who did not want to disclose her last name for safety reasons said since the encampment started, the DPU Coalition have met with administrators a total of two times.
The first meeting was held on Tuesday, and the second took place on Wednesday afternoon.
Ayesh and Yasmine said after both meetings, they still felt their demands were still not being met by the DePaul administration.
“We requested someone from the Board of Trustees to be there and they didn’t do that,” said Ayesh.
On Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m, The Chicago Jewish Alliance held a rally at the DePaul School of Music in response to the encampment. At the rally, there was a mix of students, faculty members and other counter-protesters in support of Israel.
Professor Steve Resnicoff, who teaches in the College of Law and is director of its Center for Jewish Law and Judaic Studies, said there has been some harassment of Jewish students on campus. He said he was attending the rally to show that they are not alone.
“There’s been increasing feelings of alienation and isolation by many of our students who have said there has been threats and harassment,” said Resnicoff.
Shortly after the rally started, counter-protesters were lined along the sidewalk on Fullerton Avenue outside of the quad, with the Chicago Police Department showing up on Fullerton Avenue to intervene while the dueling groups chanted and fought back and forth. It was not clear whether members of the rally at the music school were part of the crowd. At one point, a counter-protester holding a pole started forcing his way forward through the barrier of cops, attempting to hit those taking part in the encampment.
Pro-Palestinian protesters linked arms the length of the quad. Clashes broke out with some pushing and yelling face to face among both groups, with CPD standing guard until the counter-protesters crossed the street and the crowd diffused around 3 p.m.
On Monday afternoon, the office of President Manuel emailed the DePaul community, providing the university’s response to the demands of the DePaul Divestment Coalition. The email stated that DePaul, in alignment with its religious order, “calls for a mutually agreed upon ceasefire” and “does not support genocide of any kind in the world.”
President Manuel rejected the coalition’s demand to remove members from DePaul’s Board of Trustees with ties to Israel. The president said the board is open to establishing an advisory committee that would give input on investments and would include faculty, staff and student representatives. President Manuel also said he has requested a meeting with the DPU Coalition tomorrow.
In response to the email this afternoon, the DPU Divestment Coalition said the following to what they called “the most important demand of divestment”:
“In response to our demands regarding the endowment and divestment, administration has side-stepped any sort of direct reply by discussing the PRI and the structure of endowment investment. We argue that investment in companies that profit off the suffering of the suffering of the Palestinian people is antithetical to the very first PRI principle, the incorporation of ESG issues into decisions regarding investment. Furthermore, saying that DePaul does not ‘directly’ invest in security indicates that there is a likelihood that investment funds our tuition money feeds are going into securities. Also, although we appreciate the announcement of an advisory committee and a timeline, we aim for a special status to be given to ensure a Palestinian representative has a say in the committee.”
Ada Limón on Poetry and Nature
By Ella McCoy
On April 27, Harold Washington Library hosted their 25th Annual Poetry fest. They kicked the day off with Haiku Fest awards at 10 a.m. The following hour a poetry group called Poems While You Wait arrived to distribute poems to attendees of the festival. Many other events filled the agenda including poetry readings, writings and workshops, until two o’clock when this year’s keynote speaker, Ada Limón arrived.
Ada Limón received the title of 24th United States Poet Laureate in July 2022, and her scheduled appearance drew quite a crowd that filled the seats of the library’s Cindy Pritzker auditorium, so much so that latecomers were limited to the standing room behind chairs. Before sitting down with poet and professor Mark Turcotte to talk about her latest work, she read a few poems from her published books, each one eliciting laughs, cheers and at times shouts of glee and joy from the crowd.
When Turcotte sat down with Limón, he first mentioned her latest work, You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World, an anthology of nature poems that will serve as her signature work as poet laureate. Limón said that she was inspired to create something that connected poetry to nature.
However, Limón wanted to go further than just connecting poetry to nature, emphasizing the connection that humans have to nature.
“It is the breath that I'm breathing. It is the, you know, it is all of us in a room. It is the energy between us,” she said. “And I asked these poets, if they would write an original poem to the landscape around them, in the landscape around them, to think about something they connected to, and as these poems came in, I just would weep.”
Another aim of the anthology is to subvert the trope of the nature poem. In her conversation with Turcotte, Limón called for a new kind of nature poem.
“We have a new nature. It's a little more urgent. We have anxiety about it. You know, we're losing species every day, and so I think that there's a level in which, in order to write this book, and make this book, we had to make room for that, our sort of anxiety about it, our confusion about it, our love for it, our guilt. All of these things that are connected,” said Limón.
The last question Turcotte asked Limón was about her bookshelves. In an interview with the New York Times, when asked about her bookshelves emphasized that she keeps her prose and poetry separate, and it made the headline for that article. Turcotte joked about his colleagues insisting on his asking her that and Limón chuckled before stating her reasoning.
“Prose often is the place for answers,” Limón asserted. “Poetry is the place for more questions.” The crowd hummed thoughtfully at her response before she read a few more poems.
This summer Limón is visiting seven national parks, highlighting poems from the new anthology on each stop. To find more information on her summer national park tour, look here.
Chicago Headlines
By Aidan Piñon
Cinco de Mayo Parade disrupted due to gang violence - The long-running Cinco de Mayo parade in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood was disrupted Sunday due to gang violence. According to organizers, the parade was set to start at noon near Cermak Road and Damen Avenue. As spectators and participants waited for the start of the parade, Chicago Police Department Officers responded to disturbance along the route, including reports of shots fired near Cermak Rd. and Rockwell Street. At the scene, groups could be observed flashing what appeared to be gang signs and shouting at officers. CPDsaid a joint decision to stop the parade was made between CPD’S 10 district, elected officials and parade organizers out of an abundance of caution and to protect the safety of all attending the parade. However, 25th Ward Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez and his office said the parade did go forth, just in a different route. “We continue to closely monitor the situation and collaborate closely with the police district to ensure the safety of all residents and assistants,” Sigcho-Lopez’s office said. Courtney Spinelli, Gabriel Castillo and Glenn Marshall from WGN9 have more information.
About 50 pro-Palestinian protestors arrested from the School of the Art Institute -Chicago police arrested about 50 pro-Palestinian protestors Saturday afternoon in North Garden at the Art Institute of Chicago in the Loop. Students at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago set up a pro-Palestinian encampment in the garden around 11 a.m., calling it “Hind’s Garden” in honor of a 6-year-old Palestinian girl allegedly killed by the Israeli military earlier this year. By 4:30 p.m., around 50 people were inside the garden distributing food and setting up tents, while dozens stood outside a gate on the sidewalk by North Michigan Avenue, waving Palestinian flags. Shortly after, cops entered the garden, breaking up the encampment by arresting protestors who had locked arms together to prevent police from entering the garden. In a statement, police said they responded to the encampment to “maintain the safety of those participating” and those in the surrounding area. They had negotiated with protesters for two hours, police said, including offering an alternative protest site. At 3:30 p.m., the Art Institute told them to take “enforcement action” to remove this in the garden police, said. A spokesperson for the Art Institute said the Art Institute “respects a group’s right to peacefully protest without harming staff and visitors,” but claimed the protest grew disruptive. Rebecca Johnson from the Chicago Tribune has more.
Multiple rounds of storms to hit Chicago area - Most of the Chicago area is facing a threat of severe weather on Tuesday morning, with hail, gusty winds and even brief tornadoes all possible across the region. According to the NBC 5 Chicago Storm Team, Monday will continue to be sunny, but a system bringing strong-to-severe thunderstorms to the Great Plains will push its way into Illinois overnight, ushering in showers and thunderstorms early Tuesday morning. The bulk of the storm is expected to pass through the Chicago area during Tuesday morning. The Chicago area will again face a threat of severe weather on Wednesday. Cooler temperatures are expected later in the week, with occasional chances for showers stills popping up in the forecast. NBC Chicago has more here.
Chicago Cubs’ starting pitchers have historically good weekend - The Chicago Cubs won a completive series this weekend over their division rivals, the Milwaukee Brewers, winning the decider on Sunday, 5-0. Currently tied for first place in the National League Central, the Cubs have been off to a hot start this season and continued that streak this weekend, achieving something that they’ve never done before in modern MLB history. The Cubs’ starting pitchers threw at six scoreless innings in every game of the series which is something that hasn’t been achieved in modern franchise history (dating back to 1901), according to Chicago’s graphics coordinator Christopher Kamka. The Cubs’ next series is a home one as they face the San Diego Padres, starting on Monday. Tyler Maher of Sports Illustrated has more here.
National Headlines
By Sam Freeman
Trump is fined $1,000 for gag order violation in hush money trial – On Monday, Donald Trump was fined $1,000 for violating his gag order. The judge presiding over his case warned that additional violations could mean jail time. It’s the second time in this trial that Trump has been sanctioned for violating the gag order – an order which is intended to protect jurors, witnesses and other people closely connected to the case from Trump’s comments. He was fined $9,000 for nine violations last week. “It appears that the $1,000 fines are not serving as a deterrent. Therefore going forward, this court will have to consider a jail sanction,” Judge Juan M. Merchan said. He also made it clear that jail time would be a “last resort.” The trial is in its third week of testimony, and prosecutors are building up to their main witness Michael Cohen. Cohen is Trump’s former lawyer who pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the hush money payments. Michael R. Sisak, Jennifer Peltz, Eric Tucker and Jake Offenhartz from the Associated Press have more information.
Columbia University cancels its main commencement after weeks of Pro-Palestinian encampment – Columbia is changing its graduation plans after several tumultuous weeks on campus. Instead of a universitywide ceremony, officials at the institution will prioritize Class Days and school-level ceremonies “where students are honored individually alongside their peers.” The university is also relocating their ceremony from the South Lawn, where protestors set up encampments, to their main venue for outdoor sports Baker Athletics Complex. Columbia President Minouche Shafik had previously requested police remain present on campus through at least May 17, "to maintain order and ensure encampments are not reestablished." More than 100 people were arrested by police at the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on April 18, and when the encampment reformed, Columbia began suspending students. Rachel Treisman from NPR has more information.
Flooding remains in Houston after hundreds of rescues and evacuations – Days of heavy rains in the Houston area led to some Texas schools closing on Monday and hundreds of rescues. Authorities say a 4-year-old boy in Johnson County died after riding in a car that was swept away by the fast waters. High waters continue to close some roads and leave residents with a hefty cleanup in neighborhoods where rising water levels led to evacuation orders. Houston is one of the most flood-prone areas. In 2017, Hurricane Harvey flooded the area and resulted in more than 60,000 rescues. Storms brought 58 centimeters of rain within six to eight hours in some areas from central Texas to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, according to the National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Stalley. Forecasters expect the storm to subside in southeastern Texas. Jamie Stengle and Lekan Oyekanmi of the Associated Press have more information.
Police clear pro-Palestinian encampment at U.S.C. – The Los Angeles Police Department and campus police cleared the Pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Southern California early Sunday morning. The encampment began almost two weeks ago in Alumni Park, the central quad on U.S.C.’s campus. Soon after the encampment began, police arrested 93 people; the encampment returned quickly after. Police say they did not make any arrests clearing out the encampment for the second time. U.S.C. decided several weeks ago to not allow the valedictorian, who is Muslim, to speak at graduation. U.S.C. later canceled its main graduation ceremony and will have a modified celebration this week. The removal comes as the University of California, Los Angeles faces criticism over its handling of protests. A group of counterprotestors attacked a Pro-Palestinian encampment, and the police didn’t intervene for several hours. The next night, they arrested around 200 people at the protest. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Jonathan Wolfe of The New York Times have the story.
14 East Pueblo: Madonna’s Brazil concert draws over 1.6 million fans
By Annabelle Rivera
Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro was filled with over 1.6 million fans for American singer Madonna’s free concert.
Brazil’s excitement of the performance was reportedly felt for days beforehand. Rio’s airport forecasted over 100 extra flights to the city leading up to the show. Hotels were expected to reach 98% capacity, bars and restaurants sold “Like A Virgin” cocktails and stores nearby stocked up on Madonna merch.
The two-hour show was a collection of Madonna’s greatest hits, including “Like A Prayer” and “Hung Up.” Madonna was also joined on stage by Brazilian artists Anitta and Pabllo Vittar.
Announced in March, the concert was the final show of Madonna’s Celebration Tour, which began in October. Her official website cites this Brazil show as the biggest in her 40 year career, over 10 times larger than her previous record of 130,000 attendees.
According to Rio’s City Hall, the concert was predicted to add 293 million reals ($57 million) to the local economy.
Hey, Check This Out!
With Featured Columnist Elizabeth Gregerson
Depending on your age, your feelings around Conan O’Brien probably fall into one of three categories. He is either, “that comedian who hosts that podcast about needing a friend,” “that comedian who used to host The Tonight Show,” or “that comedian who had The Tonight Show cruelly ripped away from him by the NBC overlords.” Feel free to guess which category this column’s author falls into.
You may or may not have seen clips from O’Brien’s recent visit to the popular YouTube show Hot Ones, hosted by Illinois native Sean Evans, where O’Brien drinks out of hot sauce bottles in his characteristically exaggerated overcommitment to the bit. He was on Hot Ones to promote his new travel show on Max, Conan O’Brien Must Go.
Only four episodes long, the series follows O’Brien as he visits Norway, Argentina, Thailand and Ireland. While he does his best to sample the cuisine and participate in the unique cultural experiences each country offers, don’t expect chef and travel host Anthony Bourdain levels of intellectual commentary. Viewers will not walk away from episodes with a deeper understanding of each country’s history and culinary influences. O’Brien’s goal is not to teach anyone anything, it is to make us all laugh.
O’Brien is a comedian and seems to relish in bringing his awkward, self-deprecating and trademark physical brand of comedy along with him as he travels. Language barriers do not prevent him from making (sometimes brutally) honest connections with the people he visits, who often seem more than happy to be ‘in’ on the joke.
All four episodes are available to stream on Max. Give it a watch if you need a mental health break and want to spend a little more than half an hour giggling over the silly and sometimes stupid antics of O’Brien overseas.
Resources
Need resources regarding cooling centers, rental assistance, abortion access, COVID-19 testing and vaccines or mental health? Check out our complete list here.
That’s it for today! See you next Monday.
The 14 East Newsletter Team