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NEWS: What to Know as the National Guard Deploys to Chicago

The Chicago Maroon

OCTOBER 22, 2025

FOURTH WEEK

VOL. 138, ISSUE 3 PAGE 2

Federal Agents Briefly Detained International Student Near Campus, University Says

By NATHANIEL RODWELL-SIMON | Deputy News Editor

A UChicago international student was “briefly detained” by federal agents on October 15 at East 55th Street and South University Avenue, according to an email from the University’s Office of International Affairs (OIA) sent to other international students at the University. Per the email, the student was carrying their immigration documents in line with University recommendations and was released after providing them to the agents.

At the time of publication, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had not responded to the Maroon’s request for comment on whether it was the agency responsible for the stop.

This is the first documented instance of an individual affiliated with the University being detained by immigration authorities on or around campus. A crowdsourced map produced by the Chicago Sun-Times shows one verified previous sighting of an ICE agent in Hyde Park on September 12. Individuals on the anonymous social media

platform Sidechat have also communicated ICE sightings around Hyde Park in recent days, but these could not be independently verified.

The OIA advises students in the U.S. on J-1 or F-1 visas “carry a copy of their most recent I-94 arrival record and copy of their passport bio page as proof of legal status in the U.S.” It also advises that, in the event of an immigration stop, students should indicate their willingness to cooperate and then immediately contact the University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD). According to the OIA, the detained international student followed all relevant guidance from the University.

“Outside law enforcement personnel generally are permitted to access otherwise open, publicly accessible areas of the University. However, unless investigating agency or law enforcement personnel present a search warrant, they do not have a right to access areas that are access restricted, or to obtain information like documents,” a

guidance document from the University reads.

The document also states that the University does not provide law enforcement with information about the immigration status or activities of students, faculty, and staff without a valid legal order “or as otherwise permitted by law (e.g., [the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act]).”

An October 17 email from Vice President for Operations Michael DeLorenzo and Associate Vice President for Student Life Michael Hayes communicated the incident to all members of the University community and provided additional guidance on engaging with federal law enforcement. When asked for comment, a University spokesperson directed the Maroon to DeLorenzo and Hayes’ email.

Since President Donald Trump took office in January, the OIA has sent several emails to international students recommending best practices for interacting with immigration enforcement and clearing customs. In April, 10 international students and alumni had their visas revoked by

the State Department with no explanation. These visas were later restored.

Immigration enforcement in Chicago has also increased in recent weeks as ICE carries out its crackdown known as “Operation Midway Blitz.” While documented incidents in Hyde Park have been limited thus far, enforcement activities have taken place elsewhere on the South Side.

This map tracks ICE activity near UChicago. Hover over each marker to see when ICE was sighted and how the Maroon verified the sighting. Versión disponible en español.

Hyde Park Parents Organize Protest Against ICE

By NAINA PURUSHOTHAMAN | Senior News Reporter and TIFFANY LI | Editor-in-Chief

Almost 250 people—many of whom were minors—marched along 53rd Street on October 18 to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) presence in Chicago. The protest was organized by neighborhood parents, some of whom had also attended the “No Kings” march in

downtown Chicago the same day.

The Hyde Park protest came just hours after at least three federal law enforcement agents detained an individual near East 61st Street and South Greenwood Avenue before driving away with him in a black Jeep SUV. Federal immigration agents have also

detained three workers in Hyde Park and an international student at UChicago over the past few days.

Organizers Laura Staley, Jenny Zhang, Seema Ahmad, and Anwuli Anigbo said they had explicitly organized the protest to be child-friendly.

“We sort of thought, ‘We want to go protest, we want our kids to protest,’” Staley said. “We have time in the afternoon. Let’s

NEWS: “Defend, Don’t Defund”: Five Labor Unions Rally on Quad, Demand a Stop to Budget Cuts PAGE 4 NEWS: President Paul Alivisatos on Budget, Federal Pressures, AI, and Graduate Education PAGE 3 VIEWPOINTS: Transportation Is More Than Just Mobility

see if other people want to join us.”

Staley explained that she has observed the fears students around Hyde Park and Kenwood have expressed about ICE and believes it is important to empower them in the form of protest and community organizing.

“If we can teach them at three, four, six, [or] eight what it means to protest and why

CONTINUED ON PG. 4

University Told Dorm Staff to Call UCPD if Federal Agents Enter Amid Worries About ICE

By ISAIAH GLICK | Senior News Reporter

Housing & Residence Life (HRL) has directed resident heads (RHs), resident assistants (RAs), and desk clerks to immediately call the University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) if federal immigration enforcement enters a UChicago dorm, according to an email reviewed by the Maroon

The email instructed residential staff to contact UCPD and notify their supervisors so that “trained personnel and institutional resources can take the lead.” It also advised staff to remain “calm and courteous,” ask for the agent’s name and agency affiliation, and “state… willingness to cooperate,” matching the University’s standing guidance to the community for contact with non-UCPD law enforcement personnel.

“Decisions about cooperation with federal agencies, including access to University buildings, are made solely by University leadership and legal counsel,” the email reads. “These decisions are not made at the staff or departmental level.”

The email did not specify how UCPD would respond but stated that “UCPD is the trained and authorized point of contact and will respond in accordance with University protocol and applicable law.”

“No Housing & Residence Life staff member, including student staff, will be asked or expected to escort, guide, or

accompany federal agents,” the email continued. “Housing & Residence Life staff are not expected, and should not attempt, to intervene, block, or otherwise engage directly with federal agents.”

The guidance also noted that external law enforcement agencies will not be permitted access to dorm buildings without valid search warrants.

Two RHs, who spoke to the Maroon on the condition of anonymity, said the University’s guidelines did not properly outline how HRL staff should respond in the event that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) enters the dorms.

“Simply saying the standard line, ‘Call UCPD,’ is not a real plan,” one of the RHs said.

“One of the last lines [of the University’s email notifying students of an international student’s detainment] is about how it’s important to have a plan in place. And I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s what I’m saying.… You need to have a plan. Why are you putting it on our students to figure it out themselves? This is your job.’”

Last Thursday, an international student was briefly detained by ICE before presenting documentation and being quickly released. ICE personnel have also been reported around Hyde Park as part of a broader operation in the Chicago area.

The RH also said staff found out about the detainment from students— who had received an email from the University about the incident—and not directly from administrators. “I would say the main initial takeaway is just being dumbfounded that we found out through the grapevine, rather than any communication from the actual institution,” they said. “We, who are supposed to be the leaders in our houses, who are supposed to be the ones that are informed and able to point them towards resources, [were] caught completely uninformed.”

They added that their race made them concerned over ICE identifying them personally. “I, as a brown, very Mexican person, would appreciate… know[ing] that ICE has been sighted on the Midway, that they’ve been sighted at 55th and University. I went to that corner to pick up a package that day,” they said. “I really would have appreciated to know where we’ve been seeing ICE because that’s my… safety [directly at stake].”

The RH suggested that the University of Illinois Chicago and Northwestern University, among other schools, had better communicated similar protocols to students. “I’m not saying [other institutions are] perfect,” they said. “I’m just saying that the University has not communicated any of that, and I am in a position where the University should

absolutely be communicating with me as a resident head [so I know] how I can enact those policies [and] what we can do.”

The second RH specifically criticized the lack of student presence when they met with Associate Vice President for Safety & Security Eric Heath last week and how students have been absent from the discussion. “Even though there have been calls [by RHs] for students to be brought into these conversations, no students were invited to this meeting,” the RH said. “I know it’s intentional because we had discussions about why students should be involved [and] how to involve students.”

At a meeting between HRL staff and Dean of the College Melina Hale, a resident dean (RD) asked Hale what to do if ICE entered a dorm lobby and whether there was a specific protocol, according to the first RH. The RD received no response. “When we ask, it’s always a punt,” they said.

“The message that I receive through all the non-messaging… is that University leadership actively does not care,” the second RH said. “They care more about their liability and their profits than their people… and how this type of negative press might affect their brand. They don’t want to call attention to [concerns about immigration enforcement] because that might draw the ire of Trump, or it might draw the ire of a donor.”

What to Know as the National Guard Deploys to Chicago

By NATHANIEL RODWELL-SIMON | Deputy News Editor

Hundreds of federalized National Guard troops arrived in Illinois last week as part of President Donald Trump’s program to conduct mass deportations and crack down on violent crime in Chicago, which Trump has falsely described as “the most dangerous city in the world.”

On October 10, a plan to use those troops to protect federal buildings and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel was blocked with a tem-

porary restraining order (TRO) issued by U.S. District Judge April Perry, an appointee of former President Joe Biden. A proposed deployment to Portland was also blocked in a separate ruling, and more than 2,000 troops remain in Washington, D.C.

In light of these recent developments, the Maroon spoke to experts on the scope of presidential authority to deploy the National Guard in civilian settings.

Immigration Enforcement in Chicago Draws Widespread Opposition

ICE launched its crackdown, called “Operation Midway Blitz,” on September 8, intensifying immigration enforcement activities in the city that had ramped up when Trump took office in January. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claims to have arrested more than 1,000 undocumented immigrants in Chicago over the past month. DHS has not announced an end date for the operation.

The enforcement operation has

prompted hundreds to demonstrate outside of ICE’s regional facility in Broadview, Illinois, which is currently being used for detention and processing. Protesters have also gathered around immigration courts, where ICE has repeatedly detained noncitizens present for routine hearings.

During the demonstrations, federal agents have deployed tear gas, pepper spray, and less-lethal projectiles at protesters, journalists, and bystanders.

On September 19, federal agents shot

“I want [my students] to be aware of what’s happening and... ideally become part of a solution.”

CONTINUED FROM PG. 1

it’s important and create a safe space for them to do it, imagine what they’ll be like when they’re 20,” she said.

Other parents also found youth-centered action vital. Ahmad, who lives in Kenwood and brought her eight-year-old son to protest, said, “Your instinct as a parent is to shield them, but being in community and solidarity is so empowering. It’s an antidote to everything that’s happening to them.”

Marc Furigay, a middle school language arts and social studies teacher at the Ancona School in Kenwood, has also noticed growing anxiety among students. He joined the 53rd Street march after marching downtown earlier that day. “It terrifies me, and I have a lot of worr[ies] about how my seventh and eighth graders are internalizing this,” Furigay said.

For Furigay, the stakes are high. “It’s not so much a slide into fascism. I think we’re pretty much already there,” he said. “I want [my students] to be aware of what’s happening and, you know, ideally become part of a solution.”

Linda, a Mexican immigrant who asked to withhold her last name, attended with her nine-year-old daughter. “Just the idea that there is a police state chasing people.… It’s very, very hard,” she said. Though Linda is now a U.S. citizen, several of her friends are in hiding, she explained. She continues to send them as much help and money as she can.

Anigbo observed that the oldest of her three children—who are ages three, 11, and 17—is constantly asking what meaningful action looks like and wondering, “How could we be allowing this to happen?”

“Defend, Don’t Defund”:

“Everything that they understand about what holds the country together just doesn’t seem to exist anymore,” she said. “Childhood is a privilege that we set up, but, in moments like this, you kind of lose that ability to shield your child from reality or that concept of childhood as being something separate and magical.”

Ahmad said that it is the community spirit that makes Hyde Park resilient. “Your kids play soccer together. You go to school together. They’re your neighbors,” she said. “It’s a really special thing to be able to do this as a community.”

Editor’s note: Anwuli Anigbo is the development director of the Invisible Institute. Jamie Kalven, the founding director of the Invisible Institute, is a member of the Maroon’s advisory board.

Five Labor Unions Rally on Quad, Demand a Stop to Budget Cuts

By ANIKA KRISHNASWAMY | Head News Editor

on Wednesday,

Arts & Humanities, which faces a major restructuring and an admissions pause announced over the summer.

The rally featured speakers from Graduate Student United–United Electrical (GSU-UE), UChicago’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, Faculty Forward (FF), National Nurses United (NNU), and the Committee of Interns and Residents. Together, the unions represent over 7,000 workers at the University, including graduate students, tenure-track and non-tenure-track faculty, nurses, and resident physicians. A representative from Students for Justice in Palestine also spoke at the rally.

“[We] don’t accept the narrative that these cuts are necessary or inevitable,”

Alicia Badea, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Germanic Studies and a member of GSU-UE, told the Maroon after the rally. “We want to put people over profits and… [show the administration] that we have power and that we are organized and that we want to protect

our livelihood.”

Over the summer, the University announced that, in addition to departmental mergers in the Division of the Arts & Humanities and graduate admissions pauses across over a dozen programs, it would reduce its overall internally funded Ph.D. population by 30 percent by academic year 2030–31 and cut the hiring rate of tenure-track faculty by 30 percent. These measures are part of a broader effort to cut spending by $100 million over the next few years and to balance a $288 million deficit as of fiscal year 2024.

“[These changes] will ensure that the University of Chicago is more resilient and in a strong position to continue to thrive,” University President Paul Alivisatos wrote in the initial letter annoucning the decision to faculty in August.

Badea said that these changes had been “announced top-down… with no input from the people they would affect.”

“For the budget, ‘sharpen’ doesn’t mean you’re forsaking something....

Get it sharper. Build. Do those two things, and we’ll just be thriving.”

CONTINUED FROM PG. 3

dards of economic profitability.

“I am really deeply committed to the humanities—all of us are,” Alivisatos said. He said there are seven authorized tenure-track faculty searches this year in the AHD, a testament to that dedication. “That’s a lot of searches for one year.”

Federal Attacks on Higher Education and Diversifying Funding for Research and Innovation

The University has faced additional pressure after the Trump administration significantly scaled back support for academic research beginning last January. Long-term losses in terminated grants amounted to between $40 and $45 million as of mid-May, Baicker told the Maroon last spring.

“I’m pleased to say that in the books that did just close on the last day of June, actually, our federal research funding was essentially flat,” Alivisatos said.

“There’s no question that the federal government has sponsored research that has been just utterly groundbreaking across the nation and absolutely at this University over the years,” he said. But recent years have brought more private sources of support and partnerships with foundations and companies, which allow for greater flexibility, he said.

Alivisatos pointed to the University’s partnership with IBM as an example of such support. UChicago also announced last May a $25 million collaboration with MFV Partners, a venture capital firm, to support new quantum computing, life sciences, and technology startups.

“The public good that comes from the kind of broad research that the science ecosystem is capable of has created enormous good for this country, and I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to keep that partnership going,” he said.

FY2025 was one of “record-breaking philanthropy for the University, by far the most in our history, which speaks to the support we have,” he said. “More than 50,000 gifts came in.”

Free Speech and Academic Freedom

In a speech at the beginning of Alivisatos’s tenure in 2021, he noted that democracy was facing threats both domestically and globally and argued that UChicago could be well positioned to work for the health of democracies.

Asked what he now saw as the University’s role in that work, Alivisatos described the University as an example to others with its philosophy of institutional neutrality, and its students as “bringing those values” across the world.

“The University doesn’t speak for faculty or for students, and that, I think, has allowed this place to… [host a large] variety of voices,” he said. “That’s another big contribution—our demonstrating that [that approach] works, and that it produces an environment where there’s civil discourse and serious thought, where protest is occurring all the time.”

“I feel keenly the responsibility to do everything I can every day to protect free expression inside this university,” Alivisatos said. “And, of course, we’re happy to talk with other [institutions] about the challenges that they’re facing.”

The government’s quickly reversed revocation of 10 UChicago student and alum visas last spring and a federal immigration crackdown that has landed Chicago in national news have also raised questions about whether the University could see a decrease in international student enrollment.

Alivisatos said that he has not observed such an impact. “I don’t think we had an example of somebody who wanted to come who wasn’t able to,” he said. “At least, I haven’t heard of it, and I’ve asked many times.” The Class of 2029, which submitted college applications before the immigration crackdown escalated, comprises students from roughly 100 countries, Alivisatos said.

“I’m deeply grateful and happy that that’s the case,” he said, adding that the issue has “a lot of personal dimension” for him as the son of Greek immigrants.

When asked what he thought UChicago’s responsibility to students outside the classroom to be, particularly concerning Immigration and Customs

Enforcement (ICE) and potential National Guard activity in Chicago and Hyde Park, Alivisatos pointed to existing guidance but did not share specifics.

The University’s standing guidance to the community is to contact the University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) in the case of any contact with non-UCPD law enforcement personnel, including ICE.

“I think it’s more prudent for me not to talk about what exactly we’re going to do under every circumstance, because there are all kinds of hypotheticals out there,” Alivisatos said. “But I will say, separately, you can get information about how the University approaches a situation where federal officers come onto campus. There is a protocol for that.”

Artificial Intelligence in the Core Curriculum

Looking ahead, Alivisatos said that as a chemist, he is excited about artificial intelligence and the change it will bring in his own and related fields.

“It’s really amazing what’s happening just in my own neck of the woods,” he said, expressing admiration for last year’s chemistry Nobel Prize winner John Jumper’s AI model AlphaFold2, which helps predict protein structure.

The University released a report in July with a series of recommendations on AI policy and teaching, including a workshop for first-year undergraduate students on ethics and methods of AI use, possibly administered through the humanities Core sequence.

Alivisatos hopes that incorporating what he termed “computational thought” into the Core is part of how the University can both use AI tools and be involved in their creation.

He included computational thought in the ways of thinking that “an educated person” should have on hand and compared a student’s ability to recognize a beautiful book to “learn[ing] what a beautiful piece of computational thought is.”

“How we learn and how we think is in a period where there’s a lot of very exciting developments,” Alivisatos said. “So to me, it just seems vitally important that this university hold on to understanding that.”

He applied the approach of “sharpen” and “build” both to artificial intelligence research as it relates to pedagogy and to budget challenges.

“For the budget, ‘sharpen’ doesn’t mean you’re forsaking something,” he said. “Get it sharper. Build. Do those two things, and we’ll just be thriving.”

“Perry argued that the rationale offered by DHS—that federal troops are necessary to quell violence in Chicago—is ‘simply unreliable.’”

CONTINUED FROM PG. 2

pastor David Black of the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago in the head with a pepper ball as he prayed outside of the Broadview facility. In Franklin Park, an allegedly undocumented man was fatally shot on September 12 during an attempted arrest by ICE. A University of Chicago professor, Eman Abdelhadi, was arrested by state police and charged with battery and obstruction following a protest on October 3.

On October 7, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings ruled that some ICE enforcement activities in and around Chicago had violated a 2022 consent decree requiring that the agency not make warrantless immigration arrests without probable cause. ICE stopped following the decree in June, prompting Cummings to extend the decree by 118 days—the length of time ICE has been in “material non-compliance”—to February 2, 2026.

Among the most controversial of ICE’s recent enforcement activities was a “military-style” raid last month on an apartment complex in South Shore, four miles from campus.

Federal agents dropped into the building from helicopters, kicked down doors, and held zip-tied adults and children outdoors for hours before ultimately releasing some and taking 37 others into custody. DHS claims that members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua were among those arrested.

“I asked [agents] why they were holding me if I was an American citizen, and they said I had to wait until they looked me up,” a resident of the apartment complex told the Chicago Sun-Times. “I asked if they had a warrant, and I asked for a lawyer. They never brought one,” he said.

According to eyewitnesses, some children were taken out of the building without clothes on and separated from their parents.

The raid was condemned by Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who later signed an executive order barring the use of city property for civil immigration enforcement operations. Democrat-

ic members of the House Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees have also announced an investigation into the raid.

Elected officials are not the only ones taking action against the Trump administration.

A coalition of media organizations and local residents—including Block Club Chicago, the Chicago Headline Club, and the Illinois Press Association—filed a lawsuit on October 6 alleging First Amendment violations by federal agents against protesters and journalists. In response, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis ordered that federal agents no longer use or threaten to use force against journalists or protesters “who are not themselves posing a threat of imminent physical harm to a law enforcement officer or another person.”

It is unclear, however, what recourse individuals have if federal agents violate the order or otherwise violate the civil rights of protesters.

While there are “some grounds under federal law to bring a civil action against federal officials under the Fourth Amendment or a suit against the federal government under other specialized federal statutes… the precise cause of action and the grounds for litigation have become narrower in their scope and more difficult to pursue in recent years,” said Darrell Miller, a professor at the University of Chicago Law School.

Recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings have limited the scope of Fourth Amendment claims under Bivens v. Six Unknown Federal Narcotics Agents, especially in the realm of immigration enforcement. And, while the Federal Tort Claims Act does provide some avenues for litigation, the “discretionary functions” exception makes claims difficult to prove.

“[The Trump] administration is using that lack of clarity to act first and worry about legality later,” he said.

Experts Question Legal Basis for Deployment

When asked for comment on the deployment, a Department of War press

officer referred the Maroon to a webpage outlining the Federal Protection Mission under which approximately 500 National Guard troops from Texas and Illinois were federalized. As of October 11, the page was updated to note Perry’s TRO.

“The National Guardsmen were mobilized for an initial period of 60 days and will be under the command and control of the Commander of U.S. Northern Command,” the page read. “These forces will protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other U.S. Government personnel who are performing federal functions, including the enforcement of federal law, and to protect federal property.”

In her ruling, Perry argued that the rationale offered by DHS—that federal troops are necessary to quell violence in Chicago—is “simply unreliable.” Additionally, Perry said that the success of plaintiffs in other lawsuits against federal law enforcement “cast significant doubt on DHS’s assessment of what is happening on the streets of Chicago.”

The TRO blocking federal troops from operating within Illinois expires on October 23, with a hearing on whether to extend the order scheduled for October 22. An appeals court has allowed

federalized troops to remain in Illinois but did not stay the TRO.

Title 10, Section 12406 of the U.S. Code allows the president to “call into Federal service members and units of the National Guard of any State” under limited circumstances, such as invasion, rebellion, or an inability to enforce the law with civilian law enforcement.

But legal experts describe the administration’s recent use of Title 10 as novel. “This law hasn’t been used in this way before, by any previous president,” Elizabeth Goitein, senior director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, told NPR on October 7.

Emails presented during the TRO hearings also call into question the federal government’s argument that they are currently unable to enforce the law with federal and local law enforcement.

“I just wanted to pass along the effectiveness of this Unified Command, from our perspective at [Broadview],” ICE Assistant Field Office Director Peter Sukmanowski wrote to others with @ice. dhs.gov addresses. “It’s clear that [Illinois State Police] is the difference maker in this scenario, and we are grateful for their leadership. Hopefully, we can keep

“And then finally, once 2,000 [graduate] workers decided to pledge to strike, suddenly there is $20 million for the raises that we wanted...”

CONTINUED FROM PG. 4

The changes, they added, would be especially damaging to smaller departments like their own.

“We have eight Ph.D. students left— most of us are a cohort of one, [me] included,” they told the crowd. “What is 30 percent of one each year? My department has to fight to be allowed to admit one to three students over just a few years.”

Excluding Germanic studies, the four smallest departments under Arts & Humanities are Slavic languages and literatures, comparative literature, Classics, and South Asian languages and civilizations, which reported seven, 21, 21, and 22 doctoral students in the registrar’s spring quarter 2025 census, respectively. The Maroon previously reported that the University was considering reducing language instruction and dissolving any departments with fewer than 15 tenure-track faculty—a category which all five of these departments fall under—as a part of its restructuring efforts.

Badea added that the reductions would likely also lead to “fewer classes, fewer types of classes, larger class sizes, [and] fewer teachers for more students.”

Several speakers linked the cuts to a broader trend of corporatization at the

University. GSU–UE president and molecular engineering Ph.D. student Evan Yamaguchi described the University as having “profit-driven motives.” FF steward and Hindi instructional professor

Jason Grunebaum noted that the University has been increasingly acting “in ways more typical of a for-profit institution,” echoing Badea’s concerns about the future of language departments.

“Our Ph.D.s go on to get great jobs because of the language training they’ve had here that’s offered nowhere else in the world,” Grunebaum said. “When admin sees a few students registered in our language classes, they suddenly see precious pennies that wouldn’t even amount to a rounding error for an institution sitting on a $10 billion endowment.”

As of October 18, the my.UChicago portal indicates that almost all Hindi and all Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian courses have fewer than five students enrolled per section for autumn 2025— across eight and three courses offered, respectively—placing them well below the University’s reported average class size of 18 students.

Yamaguchi also called for greater budget transparency, recalling GSUUE’s experience with bargaining for and ratifying its first-ever contract in 2024.

“They constantly said, ‘There’s no

money, there’s no money, there’s no money,’” he told the Maroon. “And then finally, once 2,000 [graduate] workers decided to pledge to strike, suddenly there is $20 million for the raises that we wanted—and that’s not even the full package that we won. So we know that the University is not being fully transparent about their finances, and until they show us exactly what money is [and] isn’t there and how it’s being spent, we think that we know that there’s money.”

Badea argued that the University has misrepresented its financial troubles in recent statements by framing them as a result of the Trump administration’s attacks on higher education rather than “decades of financial mismanagement.”

“If one of the goals of the Trump administration is to dismantle higher education, why is UChicago doing it for them?” Badea said.

In addition to departmental cuts, the University also announced earlier this year that it would be reducing unrestricted funding to all centers and institutes by 20 percent, encouraging all centers to focus on securing external revenue sources.

At the rally, Gina Samuels, an associate professor at the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, explained that the Center for the

Study of Race, Politics, and Culture has already begun to feel the effects of these funding cuts. She said the Center was “forced” to close its Beyond Prisons program—which focused on “expanding the opportunities for teaching and learning with those who are justice system–impacted”—last week and that she recently learned it is “no longer a funding priority of the University.”

“This news is the final stake in our coffin,” Samuels said. “Lacking any assistance from our development office to fundraise, the race center has been sentenced to our death.”

Although several of the unions present at the rally are not currently engaged in active contract negotiation—such as GSU-UE and NNU, whose current contracts expire in 2027 and 2029, respectively—Yamaguchi emphasized that the University’s funding cuts impact all employees and students regardless of department and shape the five unions’ demands as a collective.

“[We want] to make sure that we’re building bridges across the different units at this University,” he told the Maroon after the rally.

“We as graduate workers demand no pauses, no mergers, no cuts,” Badea said. “Defend, don’t defund, higher education.”

“Legal ambiguities about the National Guard’s role... [are] being exploited to normalize the presence of armed military...”

CONTINUED FROM PG. 6

it up for the long haul.”

While National Guard troops are deployed under Title 10 status, the 1879 Posse Comitatus Act “generally forbids” them from participating in civilian law enforcement activities unless authorized by a separate act of Congress like the Insurrection Act, according to Miller. The act only applies to National Guard troops that have been federalized; members of the Guard under the command of a state governor are permitted to make civilian arrests.

However, “legal ambiguities about the National Guard’s role in supporting federal immigration enforcement [are] being exploited by the Trump administration to normalize the presence of armed military in the cities and towns of the United States,” Miller said.

The Federal Protection Mission also

contemplates the use of federal troops to “temporarily detain an individual to stop an assault of, to prevent harm to, or to prevent interference with federal personnel performing their duties.”

Ultimately, Miller believes “the [Trump] administration wants to invoke the Insurrection Act, which does allow the president to use active duty military domestically to quell an insurrection.” The Act was last used in 1992, when President George H. W. Bush—at the request of California Governor Pete Wilson—brought in the National Guard to quell the Los Angeles riots.

“They’ve been talking about using this act even before the 2024 election,” Miller said. “The administration’s hesitation is [out of] concern that the courts will strike down invocation of the Insurrection Act as unsupported by the reality of facts on the ground.”

Residents at UCMed Near First-Ever Contract

By JULIAN MORENO | Senior News Reporter

UChicago Medicine (UCMed) residents are pressing the hospital for a landmark first union contract. An allday bargaining session was scheduled for October 14, following a rally on September 25 where around 200 resident physicians demanded fair compensation and benefits. Over 1,000 resident physicians, represented by the Committee of Interns and Residents/SEIU Healthcare (CIR/SEIU), have been in contract negotiations for over a year after voting to unionize with a 98 percent majority in May 2024.

According to Bradley Heinz, a resident in the Emergency Medicine program and member of the union’s bargaining committee, many residents routinely work 80-hour weeks, with some shifts lasting between 24 and 28 hours. “We have many union members who are talking about how their current salaries are not enough for them to afford rent, food, [and] other basic necessities to live in Chicago, on top of the

heavy student loan debt that we carry into residency,” Heinz told the Maroon

In addition to wage increases in line with those of peer institutions like the McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University, Heinz said the union aims for its first contract to include paid taxi rides to and from long shifts, compensation for long commutes to hospitals, support for residents starting families, and revised grievance procedures.

CIR/SEIU represents more than 40,000 resident physicians and fellows nationwide, including over 1,000 at UCMed. Just a month ago, the residents’ union at Northwestern University’s McGaw Medical Center ratified its first-ever union contract, guaranteeing an immediate 16 percent compensation increase in its first year, an annual $11,000 stipend, a 3 percent annual raise, a licensure reimbursement program, and lower healthcare costs.

Responding to the nationwide rise of medical unions, Heinz said, “We believe

that these unionization efforts are all interconnected.… Residents have a collective voice at other institutions inspires us to know that we can have a collective voice at ours.”

At the UCMed September 25 walkout, resident physicians left work for 30 minutes and rallied for a contract. “So far, [bargaining sessions] have been about two hours twice a month,” said Samantha Rodriguez, a Department of Pediatrics resident and member of the union’s bargaining committee.

Anticipating the October 14 bargaining session, she continued, “Being able to be in front of [the UCMed leadership]… and [bargain for] all the things that we need to best support ourselves and best support our family… is the major development that we’ve had, and it’s been the direct outcome of all the people that took part in that unity break and just the solidarity that we’re able to show.”

In a statement to the Maroon, a UCMed spokesperson reiterated the hospital’s commitment to reaching a fair agreement with residents. “Working

under the supervision of our faculty and alongside our staff, residents and fellows training at the University of Chicago Medical Center are valued members of our clinical teams. Since November 2024, 21 negotiation sessions have led to tentative agreements on over 20 topics for CIR’s first collective bargaining agreement with the Medical Center. The Medical Center remains committed to continuing good-faith talks to reach a fair agreement that supports our medical trainees and maintains high-quality care for patients and the community.”

Transportation Is More Than Just Mobility

Improving UChicago’s transportation would offer the University a chance to be a pioneer of campus transit.

By

THE UCHICAGO DEMOCRATS TRANSPORTATION POLICY CAUCUS

Transportation isn’t just a matter of logistics when it comes to college campuses. The ability to get from one place to another is directly tied to student success, environmental impact, and relationships with nearby communities. As a result, transportation policy is one of the clearest expressions of a university’s values. At the University of Chicago, making campus mobility more accessible, safe, and climate-friendly would not only improve our quality of life but also position the University as a pioneering institution in effective campus transportation.

Many of our decisions as students revolve around mobility. What time do I need to wake up to make my 8 a.m. class? Is an internship downtown realistic? Should I rent the apartment five blocks away from campus or the one 20 blocks away? These choices, big and small, are oftentimes decided by transportation options and constraints. The amount of time we can spend studying, socializing, and participating in extracurricular activities is dependent on our ability to get from one place to another. In that sense, transportation policy plays a key role in shaping our college experience.

Campus transportation is also heavily involved in the nationwide push for climate responsibility. Institutions of higher education often have large carbon footprints, with transportation being a major source of these emissions. In recent years, pioneers in clean transportation policy have shown

that change is possible through programs ranging from electrifying shuttle fleets to building bike-friendly infrastructure. The implementation of such initiatives is a step in the right direction for campus sustainability.

And, of course, universities do not operate in isolation. The benefits of reliable and efficient transportation extend to neighboring communities by improving safety and boosting local economies. At the same time, weak or limited policies can reinforce inequities. With strong transportation policy, colleges have the opportunity to strengthen relationships between students, staff, and the neighborhoods they call home. A university’s transportation policy is far more relevant than it may initially appear.

Maximizing the Benefits of Our Shuttle System

One of the most common methods of transportation offered on campuses nationwide is university-sponsored shuttles. At UChicago, the UGo shuttles travel around Hyde Park and also provide rides downtown and to nearby Metra and Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) stations. Unlike other University-based transit options, shuttles operate at standard hours and offer students unlimited free rides, making them a crucial tool for attending classes. When done well, they ensure nighttime safety, economic equity, and reliable mobility no matter the weather.

Improving the UGo shuttle system’s efficiency and accessibility is one of the clearest ways to improve campus transit access. Currently, some of the biggest challenges facing UChicago’s shuttle system

(as well as other university shuttle systems) are low ridership and a large carbon footprint.

Providing users with the necessary tools to learn the routes and schedules of the shuttle system is a key factor in increasing ridership. At UChicago, the Passio GO! app, intended to help track the UGo shuttles, has an unintuitive user interface, discouraging potential riders who are unfamiliar with the system. Additionally, some routes fail to align with student travel patterns, leaving shuttles unused while costs remain high.

Innovative solutions could make the shuttle system more reliable and desirable. Booth School of Business professor Donald Eisenstein explained to our caucus the common problem of “bus bunching,” where a single delayed bus has to pick up a greater number of passengers at every stop than the bus behind it, causing the delayed bus to fall farther behind and the next bus to catch up. A solution is to measure the times with the most ridership, such as class changes, and add more shuttles for those specific times. Increasing service for certain routes at busy times could reduce the impact of one delayed shuttle, as it will only create a short gap between arrival times.

It is also important to recognize the large carbon footprint of campus shuttles. Recently, Stanford University began electrifying its university-owned buses, with about 90 percent of the miles driven by its Marguerite shuttles now electric. Similar initiatives nationwide prove that universities can align student mobility with commitments to sustainability. Outside of transit, UChicago has shown an interest in championing

sustainability around the world by developing the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth. Yet there is still progress to be made on campus, and electrifying the shuttle fleet would be a major step in the right direction. As fleet electrification is still in its early stages nationwide, UChicago has an opportunity to become a leader in the field of sustainable campus transportation.

Improvements in All Types of Mobility

While university-sponsored shuttles are a widespread form of transportation across American institutions of higher education, they cannot power campus mobility alone. Effective transportation policy does not focus solely on cars, buses, and trains, but rather seeks to increase all types of mobility. Even cut a walk between campus buildings can be significantly impacted by mobility decisions: Is there a safe, conveniently placed crosswalk? Is the sidewalk flooded? When all aspects of a transportation system are carefully considered, the ease of mobility substantially increases.

Walking and biking are the most eco-friendly transportation options, and some small improvements could significantly increase pedestrian and cyclist mobility on and around UChicago’s campus. Bike-shares are accessible through several Divvy bike stations, and students can purchase a Divvy membership at a reduced cost. Yet a lack of bike lanes makes biking dangerous for many. The walk across the Midway is hazardous due to high-speed traffic and limited pedestrian visibility, and other walkways on campus often flood

badly after rain. Though creating bike lanes and safer pedestrian conditions requires investment— and collaboration with Chicago officials, which takes time and patience—creating a safer environment for these self-reliant transportation methods is well worth it.

Building Community Through Transportation Partnerships University partnerships with local transit agencies are also fairly common. Like UChicago, dozens of Chicagoland institutions use the Ventra U-Pass system, providing unlimited CTA access for a flat fee, paid for with tuition. In addition to U-Pass, students can register for a free Metra “Day Pass 5 Pack” each academic year. UChicago has also subsidized the CTA’s 171, 172, and 192 bus routes since 2000, which provide service around the Hyde Park area (in the case of the 171 and 172) as well as transportation to downtown Chicago (in the case of the 192). In a city as big as Chicago, this partnership is central to connecting the University with the broader community. This form of transit doesn’t just help students commute but also enriches our education and allows students to experience the cultural and social life of Chicago. It is also essential for expanding faculty and staff job opportunities to people who live in neighborhoods other than Hyde Park. However, there is still room to grow. UChicago should expand its collaboration with Chicago public transit, advocating for increased L access on the South Side (such as reopening Green Line stops near campus), more frequent bus service to and from downtown, and complimentary Metra access

“After all, mobility is central to our college experience.”

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for University affiliates. Strengthening these connections would attest to the University’s role as a part of the city, rather than an island within it.

UChicago could also benefit from partnering with nearby universities to support its bus system. This is not unprecedented, as Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and neighboring University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) allow students and faculty at each school to use the other’s bus system for free. Although UChicago is not as close to other universities as CMU is to Pitt, the popular Downtown Connector could be run more frequently in collaboration with other South Side institutions. such as the Illinois Institute of Technology, to increase ridership and lower costs.

Finally, many universities are also exploring partnerships with rideshare companies. Stipends or subsidized rides for services such as Uber, Lyft, and Via are becoming increasingly popular on college campuses, primarily for promoting nighttime safety. In 2024, UChicago began working with Via to provide unlimited rideshares around campus and the surrounding area between the hours of 5 p.m. and 4 a.m. While these rides allow for greater flexibility and dependability, they also raise concerns about overreliance on private firms. If UChicago were to continue to improve its alternatives to Via, the service could remain just one aspect of the University’s larger mobility plan. In the long run, investments in shuttle services, pedestrian and

biking infrastructure, and public transit partnerships would allow for Via to become a fallback rather than a default. Rideshare options should complement, not replace, the greater campus transportation ecosystem.

Shaping the UChicago of the Future

Although we have outlined many areas for improvement in UChicago’s campus transportation policy, it is important to recognize some of the progress that has already been made. Over the past 15–20 years, the University has made adjustments to mobility options in response to student use—or lack thereof. For example, UChicago used to subsidize two other CTA bus routes (the 173 and 174), but these stopped in 2009 due

to lack of ridership; all UGo night shuttle routes were recently limited to 12 a.m. for the same reason; and the popular Lyft program was replaced by Via to better fit the fiscal and organizational needs of the University. These changes demonstrate that the University’s transportation system is adaptable.

Just as the University of Chicago is a leading research institution, it also has the capacity to set the standard for campus transportation policy. Addressing shortcomings with the shuttle system, bike infrastructure, and pedestrian mobility will require time and resources, but the benefits of doing so will be invaluable. Better mobility means safer commutes, stronger ties to the city, lower environmental impact, and a higher quality of life.

However, creating effective campus mobility requires effort and involvement from the student body as well. That means speaking up when parts of the system don’t work and showing up to support the services when they do. After all, mobility is central to our college experience. Transportation policy isn’t just about getting from point A to point B; it’s about shaping the kind of university we want for the future.

The UChicago Democrats Transportation Policy Caucus aims to meaningfully impact our community through local policy collaborations aimed at developing and implementing progressive transportation solutions. Please reach out to ucdemstransportation@gmail.com if you are interested in joining.

A Monument and Its Shadow: The Irony of Development

A hotel development linked to Obama risks pushing out the very residents his center claims to uplift.

By ZOE KALAW

At the end of April, Woodlawn residents and Hyde Park housing advocates gathered to protest the development of a 26-story, 250room hotel down the street from the Obama Presidential Center.

The 300-foot-tall building, equipped with three outdoor terraces and a swimming pool, certainly sounds luxurious and even exciting. It is, however, crucial to remember this construction is taking place in Woodlawn—a historically Black neighborhood that remains nearly 80 percent Black (compared to just 28 percent citywide) and where over half of renters and nearly half of homeowners are cost-burdened, spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing.

Thus, the April protest likely came as no surprise to anybody.

Residents aren’t just worried— they are furious. Once again, the city’s priorities lie with profit, not with the very people who call Woodlawn home.

I’m from Medford, Massachusetts, home to Tufts University. So, I guess you could say I know a thing or two about how it feels to live in a so-called “college town,” where every new development is framed as progress.

But, more often than not, these “improvements” are targeted at students, tourists, or, generally, the wealthy—rarely at longtime residents.

Take the recent decision to award a major redevelopment project in Medford Square—a historically significant part of the city, beloved by the community—to Transom Real Estate. The plan includes nearly 300 new apartment units, as well as other

classic luxury capitalist features such as a large, urban grocery store and a café. Although 56 of these apartment units are designated as affordable housing, the reality is that the majority cater to higher income residents, raising continued concerns about gentrification.

These developments in Medford often overlook the voices of longstanding community members, highlighting a concerning pattern where the city’s growth seems to prioritize outsiders over its own residents. As a result, for the past few decades, Medford has felt like a shell of what it used to be; many of the people who gave it character and community have been priced out. I have seen firsthand how development can come at the cost of community.

But, truthfully, I get it. I mean, we are at UChicago—a school

that shamelessly trains you to keep your head down, buried in problem sets, internship applications, and the elusive quest for a social life. When you find yourself locked into that kind of academic tunnel vision, it is quite easy to forget where we really are: Hyde Park and Woodlawn. Not just names on our campus map, but real neighborhoods, home to people who haven’t just set up camp for four years but who have built and lived their entire lives here.

For these South Side residents, the effects of development are far from theoretical; they’re realities with immediate consequences. The Obama Presidential Center is already driving up rent in Woodlawn, and its construction isn’t even complete yet. One former resident, Philon Green, told ABC News that his rent increased from about $850 to $1,300. In a re-

port from the Chicago Sun-Times, Dixon Romeo, an organizer with the Obama Community Benefits Agreement Coalition, put it bluntly: “You’re telling people you don’t want them in the neighborhood.”

And therein lies the rub: development draws the line between who belongs and who doesn’t. The proposed hotel isn’t just any hotel—it’s being spearheaded by a developer with close ties to former President Barack Obama. That connection alone adds a deeper, almost painful irony. A luxury hotel, greenlit by an Obama associate, threatens to displace Black families in Woodlawn—just steps from a presidential center bearing the name of the country’s first Black president.

The Obama Presidential Center is intended to symbolize community empowerment, civic

“Because if, or rather, once that hotel goes up... It’ll change who remains to see it.”

engagement, and hope; these are values that shaped Obama’s presidency and continue to inform his legacy. But, for many longtime Woodlawn residents, those ideals ring hollow as they watch their rents climb and their neighbors be forced out. This historically Black, working-class neighborhood is being transformed by high-end developments catering

not to its community members but to wealthier outsiders drawn in by the very monument meant to celebrate progress.

To be clear, I’m not against economic development—I’m against displacement. I’m against the illusion that development and displacement are unrelated. Economic investment can be a force for good, but only when it’s rooted in justice and equity. Without

serious, community-centered planning and protections, such as a binding community benefits agreement, the positive effects of development fall far short, and the Obama Center is a prime example. The Center risks becoming a symbol of contradiction: a monument to opportunity, contributing to the erasure of the community it is meant to uplift. If something is going to be

built next to the Obama Center, it should reflect the very values that the center claims to embody. That means making sure families who have lived in this neighborhood for decades aren’t pushed out but prioritized and protected.

There’s still time. The city can still press pause. Community members have already taken action, not just through protests, but through policies such as the

ARTS

The Department of Pedagogical Failure

Woodlawn Preservation Housing Ordinance. And yet, without accountability and deeper protections, none of that may be enough. Because if, or rather, once that hotel goes up, it’ll disrupt a lot more than just the Woodlawn landscape. It’ll change who remains to see it.

Zoe Kalaw is a third-year in the College. CONTINUED FROM PG. 10

Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt is a character study that explores the dark power dynamics underpinning academic life.

By SHAWN QUEK | Head Arts Editor

In 2020, philosopher Amia Srinivasan published an article in the Yale Law Journal titled “Sex as a Pedagogical Failure.” In it, Srinivasan critiques sexual relationships between professors and students, characterizing these relationships as a systemic failure that is inextricably tied to power imbalances such as elitism and patriarchy that are present in the academy. While Luca Guadagnino takes Yale as a stage, the characters of his latest picture, After the Hunt, clearly have not done their prerequisite reading.

Elitism is atmospheric on this Gothic campus, where hierarchy isn’t only in the curriculum vitae but also in the air itself. It’s exhaled in cigarette smoke outside seminar rooms and fermented in the tannins of faculty wine nights. The film is a thriller exploring how privilege corrodes intimacy, a portrayal of sacred boundaries crossed, and an excavation of skeletons in closets.

The story Guadagnino tells of professors, students, and the unspeakable things that bind them is ambiguous. Power dynamics are never stable. A professor may leverage her position, but a student’s disillusionment can tip the balance of control.

The film poster for After the Hunt courtesy of amazon mgm studios

Mentorship teeters into betrayal as pedagogy blurs with performance. The university becomes a theater where authority is rehearsed, cracked, and sometimes destroyed.

In a collegiate roundtable interview with the Maroon, screenwriter Nora Garrett ex-

plained why Yale was the only setting that could contain this dichotomy. “The Gothic architecture was… something that I felt was very evocative because it’s both kind of oppressive and lofty,” she said. “Yale is such a storied institution that offers and promises a lot of privilege… and then New Haven, the city that surrounds it, does not get to participate in that same level of privilege.”

Cinematographer Malik Hassan Sayeed frames that dichotomy with hushed precision. Shot on film, his compositions hint at what lurks under the glossy surface of an elite university: tension underlying an emergency faculty meeting and intellectual signals crisscrossing a seminar room. The camera lingers on action, yes, but also on posture—the subtle ways in which people hold or withhold power.

The score, however, by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, struggles to match this subtlety. Its heavy-handed churn sometimes smothers what Sayeed’s images leave perfectly suspended. Garrett’s script, too, wavers between sharp and overdrawn, less powerful when its dialogue belabors the tensions that the cast already embody.

Julia Roberts, who plays Alma, a professor fighting for tenure, spoke candidly about that embodiment in the interview.

“The details and the performative nature of Alma as a person and as a professor [were challenging].… To deal with posturing at all times, it’s so exhausting.” The exhaustion is visible onscreen. Alma becomes the film’s most precise study in contradiction. As the protagonist, she is both brilliant and brittle, authoritative and terrified.

It is in these contradictions that After the Hunt finds its force. During the interview, costar Andrew Garfield reflected on the contradictions hidden in pedagogical mentorship. “Don’t you think that, [in] a true intimate mentorship, there has to be some betrayal from the elder to the younger in order for the younger to become an elder, in some way? There has to be something broken.” His remark crystallizes the film’s refusal to moralize. When everyone is subject to betrayal, it becomes not an accident but a condition of intimacy.

Some viewers will find the film unfulfilling. There is no neat arc and no catharsis, but this ambiguity is not a failure. Guadagnino trusts that the fractures, micro-expressions, and shadows can speak for themselves. In its refusal to resolve, After the Hunt feels less like a typical thriller and more like life: incomplete, irreducible, and frighteningly alive.

CROSSWORD

95. The Rainbow Connection

By NOAH SODICKSON | Associate Crossword Editor