Northwestern students set up a protest camp on Deering Meadow on Thursday morning.Pat Nabong/Sun-Times Dozens of Northwestern University students set up an encampment Thursday morning on Deering Meadow on the university's Evanston campus as a show of support for Palestinian people living in Gaza, to protest what they call censorship from the university, and call on the institution to divest from Israel.The demonstration comes as similar student protests have sprung up at campuses across the nation in recent days, including Columbia University in New York, Emerson College in Boston and the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Some universities have called in police to break up demonstrations, resulting in scuffles between students, faculty and police.A news release from NU Educators for Justice in Palestine, Student Liberation Union and Jewish Voice for Peace said the camp is meant to be "a safe space for those who want to show their support of the Palestinian people.""The ongoing ethnic cleansing and genocide of the people of Gaza has made Palestinians victims of what is one of the most brutal war crimes in modern history," the statement said. "Because of this, Northwestern students, faculty, and staff are putting their bodies, education, and jobs on the line to stand with the Palestinian people."Northwestern students report the administration is curtailing free speech. The school is intimidating both students and educators who speak out against Israeli apartheid and occupation. The student liberation encampment will create a safe space for those who want to show their support of the Palestinian people." I’m at Deering Meadow where about 100 student and faculty protesters have linked arms to protect their encampment from police. They have been here since 7 a.m. and police have been threatening arrests since about 7:30. pic.twitter.com/PP0K22IK7O— Isabel Funk (@isabeldfunk) April 25, 2024 Around 8:30 a.m., police made a final announcement calling for tents to be taken down before arrests and citations would be issued. Nearly an hour later, about 75 protesters were on the meadow, forming a human chain to prevent police from shoving their way through to the encampment.Protesters were still in a human chain two hours later, chanting and sitting on the ground with their arms linked. No arrests have been made, police said.By a little after noon, police vehicles had left Deering Meadow.University President Michael Schill sent a letter to students Thursday morning saying the university had enacted an "interim addendum" to the student code of conduct to prohibit tents. The letter said that protesters had been informed they were in violation of university policies and that the university was removing tents that protesters didn't take down."The goal of this addendum is to balance the right to peacefully demonstrate with our goal to protect our community, to avoid disruptions to instruction and to ensure University operations can continue unabated," Schilling said. "The addendum makes temporary changes to how protestors can engage on our Evanston campus, including at The Rock; and the rules governing chalkings, tents and other provisions."Any violation of the rules contained in this document or in our policies could lead to disciplinary actions such as suspension or expulsion, and possibly criminal sanctions." A statement signed by over 100 faculty members and shared by Northwestern chapters of Educators for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace on Instagram demanded the university allow the student protests to proceed."We, the undersigned Northwestern faculty of different backgrounds and political viewpoints, come together in support of these principles and in the firm belief that the university will violate its own commitments if it were to take any action to block our students' rights to peaceful speech, assembly and dissent," the statement said.Protesters were on the meadow chanting and drumming, with some holding up signs facing the street saying “Divest from death, invest in life” and “NU = hedge fund.” One faculty member was shouting, “You will not touch our students.” Students were shouting, "The more you try to silence us the louder we will get."Protesters were using a color-coded system — red meaning the protesters are willing to risk arrest, yellow meaning they won't risk arrest or suspension and green meaning they're staying on the edges.Cops were on the scene within about five minutes of when they started setting up at 7, a protester named Sully S. said. “This moment is not exclusively undergrad students. It is a coalition across age groups,” Sully, who didn't give their last name out of privacy concerns, said. "We have a very strong contingent of Jewish representation here," Eden M., a grad student and protester, said. "Although we are centering the Palestinian cause, this is not a coalition that is exclusive to anyone in any specific race or religion, or ethnicity, or nationality."Protesters said that they were told the tents specifically were violation of university policy. Police told them to roll up or remove the tents, and protesters chose not to comply."They then moved forward, ripping up and destroying all of our tents and throwing them away," Eden, who didn't share her last name out of privacy concerns, said. "We've got some of them still up, but this is why the human chain formed — because we were under the impression, per their warning, that they were going to begin arresting people."At one point in the morning, a protester stole an Israeli flag from a person who had been standing across the street from the protest.“I am not walking in amongst them, I'm not provoking them any way, I'm across the street, standing for what I believe in, because the Constitution guarantees me the right to do so. For one of the persons involved in this group to steal from me is unfortunate,” John Brinkmann said. “I’m hoping that we all can continue to express our opinions and points of view in a peaceful manner.”He and about six people were standing across the street with an Israeli flag and an American flag for about an hour. A protester stole the flags and brought them back to the encampment. He said he would be filing a police report. Police asked a student negotiator to return the flag. It was not returned. Northwestern students set up a protest camp on Deering Meadow on Thursday morning. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 1 of 16 Northwestern students set up a protest camp on Deering Meadow on Thursday morning. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 2 of 16 Northwestern students set up a protest camp on Deering Meadow on Thursday morning. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 3 of 16 Northwestern students set up a protest camp on Deering Meadow on Thursday morning. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 4 of 16 Northwestern students set up a protest camp on Deering Meadow on Thursday morning. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 5 of 16 Northwestern students set up a protest camp on Deering Meadow on Thursday morning. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 6 of 16 Northwestern students set up a protest camp on Deering Meadow on Thursday morning. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 7 of 16 Northwestern students set up a protest camp on Deering Meadow on Thursday morning. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 8 of 16 Northwestern students set up a protest camp on Deering Meadow on Thursday morning. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 9 of 16 Northwestern students set up a protest camp on Deering Meadow on Thursday morning. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 10 of 16 Northwestern students set up a protest camp on Deering Meadow on Thursday morning. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 11 of 16 Northwestern students set up a protest camp on Deering Meadow on Thursday morning. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 12 of 16 Northwestern students set up a protest camp on Deering Meadow on Thursday morning. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 13 of 16 Northwestern students set up a protest camp on Deering Meadow on Thursday morning. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 14 of 16 Northwestern students protesting the Israel-Hamas war. | Isabel Funk 15 of 16 Isabel Funk 16 of 16 In response to the protests across the country, some U.S. universities have called in police to break up pro-Palestinian demonstrations, resulting in ugly scuffles and dozens of arrests. Others appeared content to wait out student protests Thursday, as the final days of the semester ticked down and graduation ceremonies neared.At Emerson College in Boston, 108 people were arrested at an encampment overnight, and four police officers suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, Boston police said. Those arrested were expected to appear Thursday in Boston Municipal Court.Another 93 people were arrested Wednesday night during a protest at the University of Southern California, the Los Angeles Police Department said. There were no reports of injuries.While grappling with growing protests from coast to coast, schools have the added pressure of May commencement ceremonies. At Columbia University in New York, students defiantly erected an encampment where many are set to graduate in front of families in just a few weeks. 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