To: President Zimmer

UofC, act now. Address the community demand for a South Side Trauma Center.

I call on President Zimmer, Dean of Students Coleman, Provost Isaacs, and the rest of my community to ensure that...
1) the protesters are released without charges
2) no disciplinary action is taken against the student protester
3) the UCMC is transparent and inclusive in their feasibility study, including scheduling a meeting between President Zimmer and the Trauma Center Coalition.

Why is this important?

In 2013, a sit-in at the Center for Care and Discovery ended with the violent arrest of four Trauma Center Coalition protesters, one of them a graduate student.

Now, nine protesters are being arrested while advocating for trauma care. Glass was shattered in their faces, and they were forcibly removed from a University building.

The lack of a Level I Adult trauma center on the South Side of Chicago is a disgrace. City officials, the Illinois Department of Public Health, and doctors from across the city agree that the facility is desperately needed, and yet, the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC), “at the forefront of medicine” refuses to address the Trauma Center Campaign -- a community demand now more than five years old.

We urge the University of Chicago to drop the charges against these protesters, and act with urgency to address the lack of trauma care on the South Side of Chicago.