A student organization at the University of Chicago dedicated to “racial justice” is conducting a discussion on race that is exclusive to black, indigenous, and persons of color.
On October 15, UChicago United will host an event billed as “A BIPOC-ONLY venue for honest conversation of managing race at UChicago with new and existing students.”
As part of its “Dis-orientation” campaign, the event is called “Race @ Chicago.” The acronym BIPOC refers to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.
The Dis-Orientation 2022 page encourages students to register for events to discover the “true” UChicago.
The registration page pushes new students to ‘understand what UChicago doesn’t want you to know… and to develop connection with current students campaigning for justice on and off campus!’
The group had previously demanded that the University of Chicago Police Department be defunded following the shooting of black student Charles Soji Thomas during a mental health emergency.
They write on their website, “seeing the brutality Charles suffered as part of a bigger, systemic problem, our goal has always been to remove our campus police force.”
A pressure group at the University of Chicago dedicated to racial justice is hosting an event for black, indigenous, and people of color only to discuss race-related issues on campus in an honest manner.
The talk is part of UChicago United’s ‘Dis-orientation 2022’ fall event series.
In December 2016, flyers that purported to laud Hitler and Nazism appeared on campus, causing concerned UChicago members to join UChicago United.
A Cinco de Mayo frat party with a construction theme was judged racially offensive and another provocation that inspired the founding of UChicago United.
The comments below the Facebook event made it abundantly clear that the gathering was racist in tone for several attendees.
Other fall events include an anti-militarism meeting, a workshop on policing, gentrification, and abolition, and a “Activist Open House” where students can meet “representatives from groups fighting for survivor, migrant, labor, racial, environmental, and disability justice.”
According to their website, UChicago United was founded in May 2017 by “students of color devoted to racial justice” in reaction to a number of racist incidents that had occurred on campus.
One of the situations that led the founders to start the organization was the alleged hosting of a Cinco de Mayo construction-themed party by one of the school fraternities.
The Atom Waffen Division distributed pamphlets on campus that promoted Nazi philosophy and had images of Hitler and swastikas. Their motto was “No degeneration, no tolerance, victory!”
UChicago United engages in a variety of campaigns to “structurally alter the University of Chicago’s campus into a truly inclusive space that meets the needs of and empowers students of color.”
One of the requests of the pressure group is the establishment of a department that teaches Critical Race Theory.
It also requests that the university hire more academics of color, change its programs to be “less Euro-centric,” construct cultural centers, and establish an Ethnic Studies Department.