While the protest responded specifically to Donald Trump’s reelection, it was planned about a week in advance regardless of the outcome of the presidential election, Vice President of National SDS Erin Boyle explained in an interview, in recognition of the fact that student movements would need to continue advocating for Palestine and reducing U.S. military spending. Funding for the Department of Defense accounted for 14.3% of the FY 2024 U.S. federal budget with $1.94 trillion in budgetary resources, according to spending data from the U.S. government.

“We see [bloated military spending] as something that’s to the detriment of all of us when we’re sending billions of dollars to Israel,” Boyle said. “That’s money that goes away from housing, healthcare, and education, and I think that’s why young people are very moved by this.”

In addition to protesting the election results and national military spending, the student organizations in attendance had key demands for UIC in relation to the university’s weapons manufacturing investments, according to Yusuf Masood, Outreach Chair of UIC’s chapter of SJP. They demand that UIC divest from weapons manufacturers to which they have made contributions, which include Boeing, Raytheon, Caterpillar, and General Dynamics, according to a comprehensive 2021 annual report on university investments.

Though the university has disclosed fewer investment details since then, a 2024 report details substantial holdings in equity dividend BlackRock, which was rated ‘F’ by Weapon Free Funds for its 2 billion dollar holdings in the nuclear arms and weapons contractor industries. United Nations experts have warned many of these companies that by continuing arms transfers to Israel, they become complicit in human rights violations.

Additionally, the university sustained study abroad programs with the University of Haifa at the time of the rally and has been sued at the federal level for discrimination against Palestinian students who were barred from attending information sessions about the program. The organizations in attendance at the rally continue to protest investments and behaviors that they see as harmful to Palestinians.

“We’re all focused on getting [weapons funding] off campus and putting that investment back in students, our mental health, our safety, our cultural centers, our cultural programs,” Masood said.

The early planning of the meeting a week in advance was also an acknowledgment that both the Democratic and Republican parties failed to meet the rallying organizations’ key demands for Palestine since Oct. 2023, such as an arms embargo on Israel.

“We’re protesting the results of the election, but we recognize that both parties are not going to benefit any of the movements out here today,” Masood said. “Even at the DNC, getting a Palestinian speaker was out of the question, was denied, [and] Kamala Harris repeatedly has ignored our movement and shown her support for Israel.”

In the aftermath of the election results, the rally organizers emphasized the power of social movements – particularly among students – to drive change and create a more just society. 

“I think that what we’ve learned in the past year of the student movement, which has grown more than ever since the 1960s, is that there’s hope in like collective action, especially when it’s grounded in real concrete demands,” Boyle said. “We know that we’re not going to fight fascism in the voting booth; it’s only [in] real social movements, when we kind of step outside of our own lives and realize that we have to collectively fight for a better collective future, [that] we’ll combat this hate.”