DisOrientation Book 2021

Welcome to Dis-Orientation 2021! Every year, student organizers targeting UChicago gather to create this Dis-Orientation or Dis-O. We aim to cut through the university’s propaganda to reveal the way UChicago operates as a racist, settler-colonial institution that thrives off of exploitation. We do this by archiving and shining a light on student struggle, a thriving community on campus rarely acknowledged. ackn This year, we gather around the theme of a community garden.

Community gardens are powerful as a collective meeting space: a place for healing and growth together, both literally in the flowers that bloom and metaphorically in the relationships that develop. UChicago will try to convince us that we’re a single, forgotten plant sitting on a windowsill– that we should sacrifice our physical and mental health by isolating ourselves in the name of academic rigor. In our movements, we reject this isolation by coming together as a collective to learn and, most importantly, resist.

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Analysis & Values This Dis-Orientation is meant to orient you towards �ction_. Rat)ier than be an end-all-be-all resource to tell you about this Unive1is:tty and its harms, we hope that this book serves as a starting poi�t)oi connect with the organizations and campaigns (student andL or /' " community=Ied) that are doing the work every day. In fact, one resourc�cannot P.Ossibly cover all you need to know about the following 'topics. This knowledge comes directly from the £ :.;;;.;,..:. _ ___ ____.....:ev;; er-g�ro� wing conversations, victories, failures, and reflections of students organizing together against oppression, learning from_past struggles across tlie globe and our own everyday experiences. The way-to continue this Journey is in community and in struggle. So, take this book as your inv:itation to organize, regardless of your background & experience.

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To get the most out of this book, and t6 come into the organizing spaces the writers and designers have outlined, we hope you will approach our shared values wit an open mind. This 6ook builds upon an understanding that the roots of these injustices lie in racial capitalism, settler colonialism;_patriarchy, ableism, policing & imprisonment etc. Through a1f of these oppressions - within the university ana.; beyond - we must take care of each other. This community care takes many forms - taking up safety _practices like pod mapping with your friends; creating time & room for self-care, practicing mutual aid and builaing nurturing, trusting, and accounta6le relationshj_ps. But we can't just water the plants, we need to remove the weeds. l;aring for our communities necessitates that we attack the violent systems that degrade, exploit, and kill us.

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This book is rooted in that care, the type of care that lets us know that we have each other's backs throu_gh whatever we face and that we're building radically transformed, 6etter ways to learn, live, and be in community with each other. I

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On August 15 2010, Damian Turner was critically wounded by a stray bullet. He was only three blocks away from UChicago medicine, but at that time, the hospital didn’t offer the Level 1 trauma care that treats gunshot wounds, so he was taken to the nearest available trauma center, 10 miles north. Shortly after, the Black youth organizer and Woodlawn community member died at 18 years old.

This death de was another brutal manifestation of the violence brought by white supremacist theft, segregation, displacement, austerity, and endless other means of deprivation that the University has forced on Woodlawn for decades, and that the so-called United States has forced on Black communities globally for centuries. It’s in this context that Turner’s family and his friends in Fearless Leading by the Youth (FLY), put forth a simple and profound demand — open a Level 1 Trauma Center at UChicago medicine.

The campaign began in late 2010, with FLY staging a die-in on the quad, chanting “How you can you ignore, we’re dying at your door? How can you ignore, we’re bleeding on the floor? How can you ignore, we’re shot next door?” The University responded with a press release saying that “Achieving geographic balance in trauma care will require a regional solution that does not come at the expense of other lifesaving services.” This statement (and the endless others like it) all center on the false notion of scarcity. UChicago pretends that they don’t have enough money mon or capacity to provide the care that people demand, but that is a lie.

UChicago continues to buy more and more property (which it doesn’t pay taxes on), runs one of the largest private police forces in the world, holds a multi-billion dollar endowment, invests in imperial warfare and environmental exploitation, and regularly raises billions of dollars in donations. The University has vast power and resources (Black communities near the University know this most of all). And over the next 5 years, the Trauma Care Coalition (TCC) fought to force UChicago to use some of that power for justice and care, not institutional self-preservation.

The TCC brought together a broad coalition of supporters — FLY, its parent org. Southside Together Organizing for Power, historic local org. Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization, the city-wide Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, nurses union National Nurses United, and student groups Students for Health Equity and the Prayer and Action Collective. As a group, they escalated direct action against the administration, and backed it up with a focused narrative. Several demonstrators infiltrated an invite-only tour and sat-in at the brand new $700 million Center for Care and Discovery to dispel the administration’s scarcity myth. As the University aggressively bid for the gentrifying Obama Presidential Library, organizers declared “No Trauma, No ‘Bama,” highlighting the cruelty of an institution that would bend over backwards for the property value boosts of the library while refusing basic life-saving care to its neighbors.

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Sydney Combs / The Chicago Maroon

This skilled narrative nar building amplified the core of the campaign: confrontational direct action to meet power with power. The TCC shut down construction at the medical center, staged a sit-in in the administration building Levi Hall, shut down Michigan Avenue downtown during a fundraising event and disrupted the donor functions inside, and disrupted much of alumni weekend in 2015, including then-President Robert Zimmer’s keynote speech. These are just a few of the highest profile actions — in the last two years of the campaign, they held countless mobilizations. The Prayer and Action Collective alone held weekly prayer circles at the medical center (which the university Collect tried to suppress). There were constant teach-ins, phone zaps, vigils, prayer circles, banner drops, rallies, marches, and other creative actions between these escalations to grow their base and maintain pressure.

Sydney Combs / The Chicago Maroon

Sydney Combs / The Chicago Maroon

@TylerLaRiviere / Twitter

@TraumaCenterNow / Twitter

The University responded with wide-ranging counter-insurgency tactics. At the Center for Care and Discovery sit-in the UCPD arrested 4 people, brought criminal charges, and beat demonstrators with batons. They made scores of similar arrests and injured more protesters after they shut down the construction site and donor event. In 2015, as protesters occupied Levi Hall, the administration had the fire department break through their own building’s walls to remove and arrest the 9 demonstrators. A UCPD detective was sent undercover and infiltrated a protest to surveil it, and the University tried to splinter the coalition by offering to meet with students while refusing a meeting with any spli community members. They legally banned 8 community members from campus for their organizing, threatening them with arrest if they returned. During 2015 convocation, the Booth school sent an email (only to faculty, so as to keep the heightened police state “invisible to the public”) that explained how the University was “tactically positioning” not just the UCPD, but FBI agents as security — in direct response to the TCC’s “potential disruption to the ceremonies.” You can see echoes of the administration’s attempts to suppress dissent on campus today. Levi Hall was once open to students, it’s now thoroughly locked off. (Former) President Zimmer used to shake graduates’ hands at commencement, but one year after Trauma Center protesters brought coffins up to the stage, that responsibility was delegated to lower-level administrators. Throughout all this repression, the administration sent out occasional statements or quotes to press. They lied about not having the money, and claimed that ending the South Side’s trauma care desert wouldn’t make much of a difference — insults to the community’s intelligence, and its loss.

But after 5 years of relentless organizing, the campaign won! In December 2015, UChicago medicine announced it would open a Level 1 Trauma Center at the Hyde Park campus. Rather than a revolution of values, a point was crossed where it simply no longer made material sense for UChicago to resist the TCC’s demands. As Emilio Comay del Junco told the Maroon in March 2015, “The tactic is not to appeal to a sense of moral responsibility on the part of the administrators...it’s about making the choice about not agreeing to a trauma center...so uncomfortable that it’s no longer appealing to them.” The TCC built a dedicated and ever-expanding base lon of support, and showed that they could and would use that base to threaten key UChicago priorities like other hospital expansions, the Obama center, and high-level fundraising. Organizers also forged relationships that were strong and trusting enough to continue escalating in the face of increasing repression, violence, and intimidation from the University. Six years after winning, this radical organizing continues to change lives, as the Trauma Center cares for hundreds of people every mo month.

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As students seeking to dismantle oppression and build new, nurturing ways of living, we should reflect honestly on the fight for the Trauma Center, and the specific role students played. It’s easy to exceptionalize rare, transformative wins like these, but of course the movement was not some mythical, larger-than-life effort. It was made up of committed, often small groups of people who were making mistakes and growing all the time, just like us (for example, Students for Health Equity typically had a reliable core of only Stude around 20 people attending meetings). The history of the Trauma Center Campaign isn’t just ‘inspirational,’ it’s deeply informative and it’s mobilizing. It should incite further, bolder disruption of violent systems at UChicago (and everywhere).

On the other hand, the win was not an inevitability. The Trauma Center Campaign faced tons of opposition, and not only from the University. At the alumni weekend action, a prominent alum of the college and medical school charged and kicked one protester, and punched another. While the idea of opening a Trauma Center got substantial support on campus, the actual actions necessary to make that happen still got plenty of hate — some students went so far as to call organizers ‘terrorists’ for the sit-in at the medical center. It may seem easy ea to shrug that off now, but at the time, it was not at all clear how close the TCC was to winning their demands. High-level administrators (intentionally and strategically) appeared rather disinterested, refusing to meet with organizers until what turned out to be the last several months of the campaign. It’s only afterwards that it became clear how much chaos the TCC was causing for the administration.

And finally, as students at a fundamentally violent and exploitative institution, we must take leadership from and move in concrete solidarity with those most harmed by the University. It’s well known that the UCPD and the administration (the same entity) are more reluctant to be visibly cruel to students, especially white ones, than to Black community members. When students take on riskier roles in direct action, they can shield community members from greater threat of police violence or systemic retaliation. As members of Students for Health Equity wrote in the 2016 Dis-Orientation book: “We have supported FLY and the rest of the coalition by organizing students on campus and directing as many University resources as possible to young Black organizers . . .

Being part of the Trauma Center Campaign has showed us that winning against the giant of the University of Chicago takes faith, risk, and persistence. It has been the young Black leaders from FLY who have fought, even when nobody said they would win, even when it seemed like the University’s position was never going to change, even when they had to put their bodies on the line and confront an out-of-control, racist UCPD, and it has paid off.”

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You might have heard about it already, in the news or in the hoard of promotional emails the school sends you. In fact, it might even be one of the reasons you came to this school. The University of Chicago prides itself on its position on Free Speech. As the homepage of a website dedicated to free speech at UChicago proclaims, Freedom of expression is a core element of the history and culture of the University of Chicago.

The history of free expression at the University of Chicago spans the entire history of UChicago s Hyde Park Campus; in 1891, William Rainey Harper, UChicago s first president, asserted that the institution would be a bastion of academic freedom.

Then, in 1895, in response to significant controversy generated by the termination of tenured associate professor Edward Bemis, a radical pro-labor critic of excessive wealth, the University Congregation resolved that the principle of complete freedom of speech on all subjects had from the beginning been regarded as fundamental to the University of Chicago. However, it is interesting to note that the real reason behind Bemis s termination remains contested to this day.

Additionally, in 1967 in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement, the University responded to student protests by issuing the Kalven Report, a statement which proclaimed the University to be a community of diverse opinions that required Freedom of Expression to maintain a diversity of perspectives; furthermore, the report established the University s institutional neutrality in regard to public issues.

Recently, in 2015, the University of Chicago issued the Chicago Principles, a series of guidelines which are meant to articulate and facilitate the University s overarching commitment to free, robust, and uninhibited debate. The Chicago Principles have been lauded and adopted across the nation, and are often described as the gold standard for Freedom of Expression on college campuses.

These principles are aggressively touted by the administration, even more so in the past couple of years but do they really believe in them? We can see the University s true values through two recent events. In 2016, the administration threatened former student body president Tyler Kissinger with expulsion on the eve of his graduation; he was charged with dishonestly entering Levi Hall, the administration building, subsequently allowing other protestors to enter for a sit-in. The protest took place after the admin had refused several calls for a meeting with students.

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More recently, during the summer of 2020, Care Not Cops staged a sit-in at UCPD Headquarters demanding the defunding of UCPD. When students got to the site, UCPD cut them off from any outside food or resources, consequently forcing the students to choose between either food & water or continuing the demonstration. In the days that followed, the administration offered to meet with students but rejected CNC s demand for a transparent, public meeting via live stream. The administration delivered a nearly identical response when CNC occupied Provost Ka Yee Lee s house for over a week during the end of summer. When it comes to discussions that threaten their power, these instances reveal the administration s eagerness to abandon the University s so-called commitment to free, robust, and uninhibited debate and deliberation among all members of the University s community ; instead of protection, these students were met with discipline and harm. Furthermore, administration has shown to prefer rejecting the conversation entirely or avoiding transparency by opting for meetings behind closed doors.

Through virtual events and the use of Zoom during the 2020-2021 academic year, UChicago has further displayed their hypocritical values of free speech. When it came to virtual town halls about issues such as policing and student safety , the administrators used the Zoom format to their advantage. They vetted the questions that students submitted in order to create a narrative of listening to student voices, despite actively doing the opposite. Also in these events they disabled the chat function so as not to have disruptions , which further silenced student opinions, especially those that were critical of the university.

Additionally, with the requirement of UChicago Zoom accounts for students, there is the potential for the university to monitor students and their meetings, further revealing the false promise of free speech .

When the University s Free Speech principles are mobilized, they seem to be mainly used to justify inaction in the face of horrendous human rights abuses. Throughout history, administration has cited the Kalven report to justify refusals to divest from companies doing business in apartheid South Africa, in Darfur during the genocide in that region, and in the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. The University argued that their investments were trivial, so choosing to divest would communicate a message about what the University believes is happening in the world , consequently violating the Kalven Report s neutrality requirements. Of course, an attempt to stay politically neutral is still a political act in itself; refusing to divest, no matter how small the investment, still provides tacit financial backing to these regimes. The University also benefits from the guise of neutrality by turning it into a brand that can be marketed. For example, the letter sent to incoming freshmen during the summer of 2016 served to not only publicly denounce safe spaces and trigger warnings, but also attract attention, and consequently patronage, from wealthy often conservative figures.

We see that the administration will stand by its inconsistent interpretation of the Free Speech principles only when it is advantageous for them. UChicago s purported devotion to free speech, then, seems to give platforms to those who need it least: the rich, white, and the politically powerful. As a student at this institution, you have the ability to push back and question its Free Speech principles so that it truly serves everyone. During your time here, and all the instances you ll come across in which the principles of the freedom of speech are under contention, ask yourself: whose speech is really being protected, and who is not being given the chance to speak?

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In May of 2021, the genocide and intergenerational trauma inflicted upon Palestine by the coloni ing Israeli government received unprecedented social media coverage following escalated Israeli violence in Sheikh Jarrah and Ga a. Unfortunately, as Palestinians around the world know all too well, the violence did not begin in May, nor did it end after Palestine stopped trending on Twitter, or even after the so-called ceasefire. What sparked uproar at protests around the world is all part of the continued dispossession and genocide of the Palestinian people. Every part of Israel is occupied Palestine, every Israeli neighborhood was once a Sheikh Jarrah.

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Social media is a useful tool for spreading awareness, however awareness must lead to concrete action. Even when #FreePalestine isn t trending, it is our responsibility to continue to fight from abroad to liberate all of Palestine, as we live in a country that diplomatically, financially, and materially supports Israeli apartheid. Since 2005, Palestinians themselves have been calling for people to pressure institutions and corporations to cease their support for Israel. Known as the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement, this nonviolent means of resistance draws directly from the boycotts against South African apartheid and explicitly names Israel as an apartheid state whose existence is predicated on continued international support. The goals of BDS are very clear and aligned with international law: ending Israeli occupation of Palestine, equal rights under international law, and the Right of Return for all Palestinian refugees.

What does the University of Chicago have to do with Palestine? Other than their continued investment in companies that enable the occupation of Palestine (College Council voted to divest from these companies in 2016, but the Board of Trustees overrode it), the University also maintains strong academic ties with Israeli institutions.

As all students learn throughout their time here, the University of Chicago is a huge proponent of freedom of expression, oftentimes at the expense of the safety and well-being of students of color. While there is value to the notion of academic freedom, it must not come at the expense of all other types of freedom. Academic freedom is not free when it rests on the oppression and genocide of an Indigenous people. When the University funds study abroad trips to Jerusalem, or hires Israeli teaching fellows, they are condoning and directly facilitating the continued oppression and elimination of Palestinians. Following BDS means not buying from companies that sell in or profit off of Israeli occupation (like Ben and Jerry s, a win that has proved to be far too little, too late, especially since they will stay in Israel through a different arrangement. ), but it also means boycotting classes at this University that have direct ties to Israel. By not enrolling in classes or study abroad trips, we are letting the University know that we don t accept their freedom of expression, that we value the liberation of all peoples above all else, and that they should cease all ties, economic and academic, with Israel.

For more information on BDS at the University of Chicago, check out this ine created by Students for Justice in Palestine at UChicago. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZIjS6ju0w2m631FDbS6Oo_bAy3kXFt4m/view?usp=sharing

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The University of Chicago often boasts its commitment to ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ in order to falsely advertise itself as a welcoming, “elite” university. However, it should come as no shock that the University this lip service does not reflect its actions, especially regarding marginalized students and the community at large. The University prolongs a nationwide pattern of harmful policies and actions against migrant communities by refusing to properly assist its noncitizen population without being motivated by capital and other self-serving motives. For instance, on June 23, 2020, Robert J. Zimmer and Ka Yee C. Lee dispersed a school-wide message regarding the Trump administration’s executive order to suspend the issuance of H-1B and other employment-based visas. The email stressed the ex “extraordinary contributions” of the “flow of talented scholars, students, and staff” without which “ the University’s capacity to fulfill [their] mission” would be damaged. This framing completely misses the point that migrants and their contributions do not need to be extraordinary in order for them to be valued and respected.

This message is one of the few messages the University has published in “support” of its immigrant community and the message only exists because the policy would have affected the University’s ability to continue to accumulate capital, and exploit its workers. The College’s “commitment” to supporting its vulnerable student popul populations is simply reserved for moments where its ability to function is impacted or diminished.

UChicago Without Borders (UWB), alongside other immigration organizing groups such as the UChicago Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, has worked tirelessly to protect and support immigrant groups at the College, especially low-income, non-citizen groups, but the administration refuses to join this call to action.

UWB has attempted to work with the University’s admin on various projects, with the top priority being motivating the University to adopt a ‘Sanctuary Campus’ status and cut ties with ICE, which would considerably protect undocumented members of the community from deportation, but membe to no avail. Nonetheless, UWB has been able to foster some progress, such as increasing the number of legal screenings and Know Your Rights workshops . At the end of the section, we have compiled a list of helpful resources for immigrants which the University fails to publicise.

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Through the process of attempting to push forward their demands, UWB has found that the University makes it virtually impossible to bring forth meaningful and transformative change through existing bureaucratic channels. The DACA Working Group, for example, acts more as a roadblock to action than as a conduit for change.

UWB was invited to meet with this group given the widespread support for their petition for the University of Chicago to become a sanctuary campus and add substantial protections for undocumented community members. A year has passed, a handful of meetings meetin have happened and the results speak for themselves. Besides increased and better publicized programming, which can be attributed to the work of Devon Moore and the CCSS, no gains have been made. When organizers asked to be formally added to the working group in order to be able to directly advise administrators on decisions relevant to the students they organize for and with, they were offered an advisory group. It is unclear whether the advisory group would serve as anything other than an excuse for the administration to say that they are “listening” to students’ concerns when we demand more from them. What is clear, is that “listening” to these concerns does not lead to actually addressing them. When organizers asked for meetings with relevant parties and were told these meetings would be arranged, no meetings were actually planned by administrators. When organizers asked for funding to be clearly and prominently shown on the page for undocumented/DACAmented students, vague excuses were given as to why this is not possible. When organizers asked for HEERF funding to be disbursed immediately after the Biden administration opened funds to students previously ineligible due to af their status, they were led to believe plans were actively being made to disburse the funds only to find out the University did not plan to disburse any funds until months later. When asked to confront the University’s complicity in harm inflicted on migrant communities due to their ties with ICE, such as inviting Palantir to recruit on campus, that subject is immediately shut down. Clearly, selective listening is all administrators are willing to do, putting meaningful change completely out of the question.

When meetings with the administration proved futile, UWB decided to collaborate with their peers — Student Government (SG). Working with SG’s Committee on Marginalised Student Affairs (COMSA) was probably one of the few favourable interactions between UWBxSG as they provided UWB with necessary funds for projects, but that doesn’t excuse, nor minimise, the antagonistic and damaging actions of SG especially since students are entitled to these funds in the first place. Starting with the Undergrad College Council (CC), UWB presented a student resolution to CC, challenging the University’s commitment to its non-citizen community members and providing various means that would further protect and support said communities. However, in an incredibly underwhelming fashion, CC was quick to diminish and reject different aspects of the resolution put forward by UWB. During meetings, there was a general sense of disrespect and entitlement from numerous SG representatives. Critiques were presented in a belittling and derogatory manner. SG reps were unfairly and irrationally focused on meeting procedures, rather than adhering to the needs of UWB, a behavior mirrored by Grad Council. Student representative bodies such as SG frequently exhibit a distaste for organisers and their work which cements their status in existing as aggressive agents of the University’s administration, rather than willing representatives of the student body especially for marginalised communities that are ignored by the University.

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Not only is interacting with these formal and performative bodies incredibly frustrating, but the complete lack of interest in active care for non citizens, and marginalized students at large, have real repercussions. Zain Jamshaid’s story shows this. After he reported that he was assaulted several times by a faculty member, the University retaliated against him. He was almost immediately put on academic probation and members of his dissertation committee were removed with no basis. The accommodations he requested due to PTSD he experienced due to the assault were denied despite evidence of hospital visits and extensive documentation. He was even terminated from his PhD program, taking away his Visa and thus legal status in the United States. This is just a short summary of the harm the University inflicted on Zain; more details can be found on the video UWB created with Zain. Where was the care the University feigns to have at any point in this process? To have Zain’s story, the Working Group and emails of support for undocumented students all existing simultaneuously shows a complete dissonance on the University’s end. It exposes its performative nature.

However, to acknowledge that we cannot expect this institution to show up for us in a meaningful way does not mean we should give up on our demands and what we know we deserve. On the contrary, Zain has expressed how deeply he appreciates the care student organizers have shown him and the impact this had on him through this extremely difficult moment in his life. From using platforms to help raise thousands of dollars for his GoFundMe to centering his voice in survivor advocacy, organizers rallied around Zain. The University cannot be trusted to look after us, but we most definitely will look after and fight for each other.

Existing Resources Existing resources include: Know Your Rights (KYR) workshops Legal screenings (usually following KYR workshops) Undocumented Student Ally Training Butterfly Support Group (biweekly therapy group for UChicago students affected by immigration status) To receive dates and details for the above, make sure to subscribe to the CCSS list host.

If you need funds for applications, status renewals, or other expenses, contact the director of the CCSS, Talaya LeGette, at tlegette@uchicago.edu (can also contact with general questions/concerns) For Illinois-based, non-UChicago resources, call the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights' Family Support Hotline at 1-855-435-7693.

Leave of Absence as an International Student Students may request a leave of absence (LOA) for several reasons, but international students need to take extra steps to ensure their immigration status is not affected by this process (if you’d like to stay in the US during your LOA). Here is some advice on the process: Submit an application to drop below a full course load through the OIA, here.

Most straightforward option is the Medical Reduced Course Load (you will need a physician to write a letter stating that you are not able to attend classes this quarter or not able to attend classes full-time this quarter) Make sure that your physician-of-choice will fill this Ma letter before you submit a leave request to the Academic Office Send in the application 1-2 weeks before each quarter that you’re taking off.

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• April 2021: Following Spring break, several frats hosted parties which caused a significant spike in COVID-19 cases. The University responded with a 7-day stay-at-home period, canceling all in-person activities.

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Title IX What is Title IX? Title IX is a federal law directed at “sex-based discrimination” (including sexual assault) in educational institutions. Legally, “Title IX” is a set of obligations that governs a school’s response to reported harassment, but here we’ll use the term to refer to survivors’ disciplinary options as well. The Title IX office offers survivors post-violence options such as housing changes and academic accommodations. The Title IX office at UChicago is also responsible for investigating assault allegations, and it works with the Dean of Students in determining disciplinary consequences. Due to bureaucratic complications and a retraumatizing model that deprioritizes survivor agency, Title IX is often an obstacle to survivors rather than a resource. It also underwent significant changes during Betsy DeVos’s tenure under the Trump administration.

How has Title IX changed, and how do those changes impact survivors?

Under Betsy DeVos, Title IX has become virtually unrecognizable. There have been five main changes: the definition of sexual harassment, the definition of “notice to the school”, the school’s jurisdiction, the burden of proof required in a hearing, and the hearing process itself. Here is an overview of each of them: • The definition of sexual harassment: As of 2020, sex-based discrimination needs to be “objectively offensive” enough to prevent a survivor from accessing their education. Schools are required to dismiss cases if the harassment is not bad enough.

• The definition of “notice to the school”: Schools are now only beholden to their Title IX obligations if they have “actual knowledge” of the incident. “Actual knowledge” is a loaded, deliberately unclear term that refers to reports received by the Title IX coordinator or an official “with authority to institute corrective measures”. This means that UChicago is no longer obligated to respond if a survivor discloses to a TA or other similar campus figures without said authority (see the student manual for a full list of officials that UChicago defines as having corrective authority.)

• The school’s jurisdiction: Schools no longer have to respond to cases that take place outside of locations that they officially recognize or where they do not have significant control. Because Greek Life is not officially recognized by the UChicago administration, the Title IX office has no obligation to respond to sexual violence in frat houses. (This is deliberate!) Schools are now also allowed to dismiss allegations in cases of graduation, withdrawal, or resignation.

• Burden of proof: Schools are now able to choose whether to base their Title IX hearings on “preponderance of the evidence” (meaning the allegation is at least 51% likely to be true) or on “clear and convincing evidence” (the allegation must have very likely happened; this standard of evidence is second in severity only to “beyond a reasonable doubt”.)

UChicago uses “preponderance of the evidence”.

• The hearing process: Title IX now allows cross-examination of both the survivor and the allegation recipient. Unlike in actual courts, there is no safeguard or assurance of fairness for cross-examination in a Title IX hearing. This means that a perpetrator’s hearing advisor can question the survivor on details of their assault, further retraumatizing the survivor.

These changes reflect a fundamental shift in the aim of Title IX — the aggressors of sexual violence are now the protected group, not survivors. As one can tell, a civil rights law that defends aggressors of violence rather than victims is generally not of much help to survivors on campus and further discourages survivors from disclosing. At UChicago, where sexual violence is already underreported and frequently mishandled, these changes are incredibly concerning.

(This summary draws heavily from research from Resilience and CAASE, and we urge you to support these organizations and reach out to them for any support or counsel you may need.)

How can survivors navigate Title IX? What does the reporting process look like?

First, it’s important to note that most reports do not result in disciplinary hearings. The Title IX office keeps record of all reports it receives, but it does not pursue all cases (the possibility of an allegation leading to a hearing is often the decision of the office, not the survivor.) Survivors in the investigation process are required to share a written report with the office, and there is a back and forth of written responses with the complainant until the actual hearing occurs. If Title IX chooses to pursue an investigation, the survivor and the perpetrator will each choose or be assigned an advisor specific to the process.

Many people on campus, including professors and RAs, are mandated reporters of sexual assault, meaning that they must relay any disclosures to Title IX. However, it’s important to note that The Title IX process is difficult and retraumatizing, and it is not the only option for survivors in the wake of violence, but it is a valid option. PSA as well as outside orgs like CAASE offer guidance and support to all survivors; if you have experienced sexual violence and want to know more about your options or just need someone to talk to, we are always here to chat.

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From the Ha market Mart rs to the P llman Strike, Chicago s histor teems ith laborers organi ing for po er. Contrar to the historical pro ess of labo r nions in the cit , UChicago time and time again has attempted to den the orkers rights and their contrib tions to the pkeep of this camp s. UChicago is not simpl composed of ndergrad ate, grad ate and fac lt . It is a collection of tens of tho sands of indi id als, incl ding janitors, secretaries, ndergrad ate and grad ate orkers, sh ttle dri ers, fac lt , sec rit g ards, teaching assistants, engineers, lect res, n rses and a ast gala of other orkers.

All of these orkers keep the ni ersit r nning, et the ni ersit reliabl fails to respect or fairl compensate them. Man camp s orkers ha e formed nions in order to in fair ages, benefits and orking conditions: and ha e taken action to make s re that o r oices are heard b the administration.

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tinyurl.com/DisOOrgs

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