U of I students rally to demand UI head Tim Killeen divest from genocide and ecocide

By Gianna Escareno and Gio Araujo

Chicago, IL – On Monday, June 16, more than 30 students and allies rallied in front of the Sheraton Grand Hotel where the University of Illinois System was hosting “The Sustainability and Research Innovation Congress.” The students demand divestment from fossil fuels and the genocide in Palestine. This was the first time the congress had been held in the United States.

UIC and UIUC students dare to struggle

Ariana Vega from New SDS at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) started off the protest, saying, “ I’d like to start off by thanking all of you for being here, for supporting our student organizations that are here to call out the hypocrisy of the U of I system as they host this event focused on sustainability while they invest in genocide and increase student repression and cuts to student resources on campus.”

Next, Grayson from Students for Environmental Concerns at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) followed up with the struggles at Urbana against Tim Killeen, president of the UI system, and the rest of administration, stating the congress was, “an event to promote and celebrate sustainability, brought to you by investors in the Palestinian genocide and the climate crisis. This hypocrisy from our university will not stand, so as we gather here, we call upon the U of I system to actually make change rather than simply talking about it. These calls are not new. Our past yells, chants and protests have continually fallen on the deaf ears of administrators. Yet, we continue to fight. It is our responsibility as students.”

Arianna Mendoza from Mexican Students de Aztlán at UIC spoke, “As of fiscal year 22, the U of I System has $120 million invested in fossil fuel companies. Many of these corporations have committed human rights abuses in the Global South. The UI System is responsible for financing nearly 66,000-plus metric tons of CO2 emissions every single year, equivalent to 12,900 homes’ annual electricity use.”

Trey McCallister from YSDA at UIUC talked about political repression on campus, stating, “At UIUC, when we call for climate action, they sanction us. When we demand an end to war profiteering, they surveil us. When we say Palestinian lives matter, they threaten our student orgs. If you’re angry – good. You should be. But don’t just be angry. Get organized. Because when we work together, we are unstoppable. When we organize together, we win.”

Liz Rathburn from Freedom Road Socialist Organization stated, “This U of I administration has battled the right words a million times over. They’ve said that they care about their student safety. They said that they’re going to stand up to the Trump agenda. They said they’re going to protect their students. And yet, whenever any demand is placed on them by those students, by Palestinian students whose families are facing genocide, by undocumented students fearful of coming to campus, or by students concerned about the fact that we are killing our planet as we speak. Well, I don’t know. I don’t see Tim Killeen out here addressing my concerns, do y’all?”

Rathburn ended by saying, “You are part of that fight. The people inside that room who are supporting Tim Killeen are on the wrong side. You are here, sweating, holding banners, not marching by the beach. You are on the right side of history, and you are daring to struggle. You are standing together and fighting, and that is right.”

Carly Bryant from Sunrise Movement Chicago said, “While I organized for climate within my high school we also organized for a free Palestine, we organized for union labor, and we organized for civil liberties. These issues are not disconnected, and we stand here today recognizing that as the U of I System profits and aids and abets genocide in Gaza while also extracting fossil fuels and aiding and abetting that initiative as well.”

Kobi Guillory from Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression told the crowd, “We are here demanding divest from fossil fuels, divest from genocide, and invest in the future of their students, invest into the people of this country who are actually gonna fix problems instead of asking things worse so that somebody can profit.”

Guillory continued, “I wanna say the antidote to fear and repression is our solidarity. I wanna uplift the stories of students across the country fighting back against repression. We have to keep coming out to protect each other. We have to keep up fighting for divestment, against deportations, for community control of the police, for a free Palestine, for freedom all over the world of all oppressed and working class people!”

Angel Naranjos from New SDS UIC ended the program with, “It’s a struggle that we have to continue. We have to keep on fighting. We have to keep up this fight. We have to build these ties across universities. So I’m really happy to be with all the U of I people here. If we keep building this struggle, I think that we will win!”

The student rally was organized by New Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Illinois of Chicago (New SDS UIC) and Students for Environmental Concerns at Urbana-Champaign (SECS UIUC). Organizations that supported this rally were Mexican Students de Aztlán at UIC (Mesa UIC), Anakbayan at UIC, Young Democratic Socialists of America Urbana-Champaign (YDSA at UIC), Students for Justice in Palestine Urbana-Champaign (SJP UIUC), Students for Justice in Palestine Chicago (SJP Chicago), Amnesty International at Urbana-Champaign, Fossil Free Illinois, Freedom Road Socialist Organization Chicago (FRSO Chicago), the Sunrise Movement Chicago Chapter, The Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR), and Anti-War Committee Chicago (AWC).

#ChicagoIL #IL #StudentMovement #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #SDS #SECSUIUC

Source: https://fightbacknews.org/u-of-i-students-rally-to-demand-ui-head-tim-killeen-divest-from-genocide-and?pk_campaign=rss-feed