The Chicago Maroon reported live from UChicago United for Palestine’s (UCUP) October 11 rally, which ended with the arrest of three protesters. Protesters locked Cobb Gate, which stands at the entrance of the main quad, before proceeding north toward Ratner Athletics Center, where several police officers used pepper spray and batons on protesters. The rally, which began at 2:30 p.m., morphed into a brawl involving at least 200 University- and community-affiliated protesters, 20 University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) officers, and more than 30 Chicago Police Department (CPD) officers.

It’s 5:30 a.m. on Thursday at Promontory Point. Two swimmers chart their course from the rocks, strapping swim caps around their chins and clipping brightly colored inflatable buoys around their waists. They descend the ladder on the edge of the rocks, wading through waist-high water before slipping in, bright neon swim caps indistinguishable from the buoys floating on the rippling surface. Surprised laughter echoes out as skin meets cold water. The sun is only just crossing the horizon, dyeing the sky a blazing pink and orange.

On the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel, Rohr Chabad at the University of Chicago and University of Chicago Hillel held two separate events in memory of those killed. Chabad organized a memorial and prayer in the Social Sciences Research Building, with guest speaker Emil Tessler, an Israeli citizen who served with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) special forces. Hillel held a concert in Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, which included speeches by community members, musical performances, and a prayer for those killed in Israel on October 7.

Few bands can claim to have written a song called “Strange Few” because, as lead singer Jasmine Rodgers quipped, “we’re strange, and there’s few of us maybe?” On September 20, British indie alt-rock band bôa played at Thalia Hall, the sixth stop in its sold-out North America tour; original band members Rodgers (vocals, guitar) and Alex Caird (bass) were joined on stage by Robin Diaz (drums), Harry Smith (multi-instrumentalist), Carlos Garcia (guitar), and Alex Patterson (violin). Original drummer Lee Sullivan was absent from the show.

During the first weekend of September, folk music fans from around Chicagoland and beyond dusted off their flannels, dug up merchandise from their local breweries, and donned their Carhartt overalls to head to the first ever Evanston Folk Festival in Dawes Park on the lake shore. The Evanston Folk Festival...

In an exclusive interview on October 2, co-Editors-in-Chief Kayla Rubenstein and Eva McCord and News Editor Tiffany Li spoke with University of Chicago President Paul Alivisatos. In his autumn quarter welcome email to the community, Alivisatos reiterated the University’s stance on free speech expressed in the Chicago Principles. The University announced on September 26, a few days before classes started, that it had received a $100 million donation dedicated towards free speech which it intended to use for the Chicago Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression, and that it was launching a new climate and energy institute on October 30. The University also continues to face the financial challenges that came to light last year.

As I sprinted across the road separating Ida Noyes from the quad, the words of my soon-to-be-battle-worn comrades were drowned out by an ominous chant: “Max Pussy! Max Pussy! Max Pussy!” cried the voices, blending together with undeniable weight in a haze of matching purple t-shirts to represent Max Palevsky in this year’s hunt. I didn’t know it at the time, but this encounter would haunt the rest of my UChicago Scavenger Hunt (Scav) experience, foreshadowing our extremely close loss to the cat-based team. Extremely close. A minuscule difference. (They placed first and my team, the venerable Crustsaders, took home twelfth!) In any case, we had but one objective: to emerge victorious.

Chicago’s babysitters were in short supply on May 16—every hip parent in the city was at Ride’s performance at Metro Chicago. The shoegaze band reunited in 2014 after breaking up following a 1988–96 stint. The concert’s attendees were clearly fans from the band’s original touring season; a decisive cheer erupted after singer and guitarist Mark Gardener asked who had been there for the band’s first run.

Alice in Wonderland is a tale known to most: a girl sporting a blue frock and a white apron follows a rabbit down a hole that leads into the magical world known as Wonderland. But Kokandy Productions’ musical, Alice by Heart, takes the frequently used metaphor “down a rabbit hole” further, asking: What if Wonderland is the childlike world we escape to when things get tough?

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is an intensely claustrophobic play. Set in a dreary Danish court, mired in a swamp of subtext-laden family drama, and lodged firmly within the lens of its famously neurotic protagonist, it can be a suffocating watch. It is doubly so when its eclectic cast of characters are all constrained to the repertoire of a single actress. But, while suffocation might sound like a bad thing, Eddie Izzard’s single-handed rendition of Hamlet transforms it into a revelatory force.

Who hasn’t gotten a little too invested in a TV show? Everyone has a show from which they can recite entire monologues, have the soundtrack playing on repeat, and even know all the behind-the-scenes drama. In their newest film, I Saw The TV Glow, director Jane Schoenbrun explores how such an innocent interest can turn into a darker obsession, making you doubt reality as fiction and fact collide. Simultaneously, the film presents Schoenbrun’s perspective on the complex and often conflicting emotions of the trans experience. After a sold-out screening at the Chicago Critics Film Festival and a successful festival run, I Saw The TV Glow has the potential to become a cult classic.

Students living in dorms are now required to register their visitors online, according to a revised guest policy announced by Housing and Residence Life (HRL) in an email to students on September 25. Starting after O-Week, residents must register guests—including UChicago students visiting from other dorms—in the housing portal before...

In an email sent to students on September 24, Interim Dean of Students in the University Michael Hayes informed the University community that, heading into the 2024-25 academic year, the University has updated several of its policies regulating protests on campus. “The University regularly evaluates and revises policies and regulations...

As students return to campus, last year’s quad protests against the war in Gaza, including a nine-day encampment, remain fresh in their minds. On the second day of UChicago’s pro-Palestine encampment and the eighth day of Passover, students and community members gathered at separate celebrations of the same holiday: Mimouna in the encampment and Mimouna at UChicago Hillel. Mimouna is a traditional Maghrebi Jewish holiday that historically united Jews and their Muslim neighbors to celebrate the end of Passover.

The Maroon’s Celeste Alcalay interviews Richard English, Professor of Politics at Queen’s University Belfast, in anticipation of the 2024 Pearson Global Forum, where he will give a talk on counter-terrorism. The theme of this year’s forum is Negotiation and Agreement. Leading scholars and policymakers will convene to discuss...

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has shared evidence indicating that former UChicago student Aram Brunson was making a bomb in his Woodlawn dorm room when he caused a fire on January 2, 2023. Brunson wanted to take militant action for Armenian extremist purposes and was in the process of constructing...

The University offers a number of services to students to support their mental health. The Maroon has compiled a list of some of the mental health and wellness resources available on campus and how to access them. A more complete list of the resources available to students can be found on UChicago Student Wellness’s website, as well as a form to subscribe to the Weekly Wellness Newsletter.

From 56th to 57th Street between Ellis and University Avenues sit many studying students, Ex Libris Café, and over four and a half million printed volumes. While the Joseph Regenstein and Joe and Rika Mansueto libraries currently house late study sessions, the block used to be home to the Maroons—the athletic ones, that is.

When I first set foot on campus, I collected club brochures like pastry selections at a lavish breakfast buffet—I wanted a little bit of everything. After the social appetizers and academic entrees, there was always room for a slice of volunteering, a bite of the pre-professional pie, and a sweet taste of dance.

The Democratic National Convention (DNC) began at Chicago’s United Center on Monday, August 19. Throughout the week, UChicago provided housing for some of the estimated more than 500 police officers from across Illinois and from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who provided security at the DNC. The Maroon confirmed this through a statement from a University spokesperson prior to the convention.