Officials in Chicago are preparing for any potential protests in the aftermath of the Derek Chauvin verdict in Minneapolis, and several schools have closed down campuses ahead of that verdict being read.
The campus of Columbia College in Chicago will be closed beginning Tuesday afternoon ahead of the verdict, according to a notification sent out by the school and a report by the Columbia Chronicle, the school’s official newspaper.
The decision was announced just before 3 p.m., according to officials.
School officials say the campus closure is a precaution at this time, and that the duration of the closure will be determined “based on the situation in the city and the South Loop.”
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Loyola University also confirmed that its downtown campus near the Water Tower will also be closed as a precaution. The decision to close was made “out of abundance of caution in anticipation of civil unrest downtown," according to an official statement from the university.
