CHICAGO — A group of University of Chicago faculty gathered Monday morning on campus to express their support for the pro-Palestine encampment on the school’s Main Quadrangle a day after the university announced it had suspended negotiations with the protesters.

Dozens of faculty members affiliated with the “Faculty for Justice in Palestine” gathered on the steps of the University of Chicago’s Edward H. Levi Hall to call on the university to re-open negotiations with student protestors and to refrain from engaging police.

“There are no updates yet on returning to negotiations,” said Callie Maidhof, a professor and associate director in the University’s Global Studies department. “We really hope they will start back up, but I have not heard anything back from (administrators).”

Students have occupied the quad since last Monday, chanting, waving flags and hosting religious events in solidarity with Palestine. Organizers have expressed they will not leave the quad until the university agrees to a list of demands, including divestment from all Israeli-affiliated companies.

Sunday evening, University of Chicago administrators announced they had “suspended” negotiations with student protesters and cited “material inaccuracies and mischaracterizations” in social media.

“University leadership including academic deans worked with student designees of the protesters and faculty to explore possible paths to an agreement within the University’s principles,” the statement said. “Unfortunately, the requests of the protesters were inconsistent with the University’s principles and discussions were suspended.”

On Friday night, the university announced it was prepared to “intervene” to remove the pro-Palestine encampment with President Paul Alivisatos claiming student protesters have created a “systemic disruption” on campus.

The announcement led to jittery tension on campus over the weekend with protesters expected to be arrested. But as of Monday morning, the campus remained calm.

Elham Mireshghi, an assistant professor in the university’s divinity school, said faculty members wanted to reaffirm their support for students protesting the war in Gaza after negotiations paused.

She said the encampment is in line with educators’ academic priorities at UChicago.The university is famous for its “Chicago Principles,” a set of guidelines intended to ensure to “free, robust and uninhibited debate.”

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