Over 300 Harvard University professors have signed a letter to the university urging "constructive dialogue" with the peaceful protesters on campus.

"We are concerned that the university has yet to meet with the students to hear their concerns. Instead, the administration has issued escalating threats of punitive disciplinary action, the severity of which the university has not seen in decades," professors wrote.

"We urge the administration to meet and engage in meaningful dialogue with peacefully protesting students," the letter said.

The letter, sent to interim President Alan Garber and interim Provost John F. Manning Tuesday, came after Harvard warned protesters to empty their encampment. The professors are urging Harvard's administration to follow the lead of Brown University and Northwestern University, where encampments ended after school leadership agreed to take steps toward divestment.

"I think so many of us signed this letter because, as faculty, we have a duty of care towards our students. The harshness and scale of the proposed punishment is unprecedented and frankly alarming; these are activities that should be met with dialogue, not punishment," Teju Cole, a Gore Vidal professor of the practice of creative writing at Harvard, said in a statement.

"We are calling on the administration to be fair-minded and set these protests in the context of numerous other protests that have happened here in the past, in response to which the university did the right thing," Cole said.

Police entered an encampment at the University of Chicago early Tuesday and began dismantling it, according to Chicago ABC station WLS.

UCLA's Chancellor Gene Block said Monday that a detective from the LAPD will join the school's investigation to identify those who were involved in violence against pro-Palestinian protesters on campus last week.

The law enforcement investigation at UCLA is being led by Associate Chancellor and Chief Safety Officer Rick Braziel. Its goal is to "identify the perpetrators of the violence and hold them to account," Block said in a note to the community.

Block said that they have reached out to the FBI for "possible assistance," as well as Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón over prosecution.

Protesters at Massachusetts Institute of Technology are resisting orders to leave the encampment on Monday.

Footage from the scene shows protesters toppling the barriers, surrounding the encampment and linking arms.

This comes after MIT President Sally Kornbluth gave students until 2:30 p.m. ET to leave the encampment on campus.

The encampment on MIT's campus, on the Kresge lawn, has been ongoing for more than two weeks, according to Kornbluth.

Northwestern University announced it has reached a deal with pro-Palestinian protesters, ending an encampment of students and faculty, but allowing peaceful demonstrations to continue through June 1.

The university said it would "answer questions from any internal stakeholder about holdings, held currently or within the last quarter, to the best of its knowledge and to the extent legally possible" -- meeting a key call from divestment protesters and students around the country who are seeking more transparency over universities' investments.

Northwestern will also reestablish an Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility in the fall, which will include representatives from students, faculty and staff.

The university also pledged more inclusivity, funding two Palestinian faculty members and the full cost of attendance for five Palestinian undergraduate students annually, as well as a commitment to raising funds to sustain the program beyond this commitment.

Under the agreement, Northwestern says tents will be removed immediately but one aid tent will be allowed to remain. Protesters will need to suspend the use of "non-approved" amplified sound." Protesters who refuse to follow the agreement will be suspended and non-affiliated individuals must leave campus.