This fall, as protests against the Israel-Hamas war continue, college officials have reinstated punishments for disorderly behavior from students who are protesting universities affiliated with Israeli companies.
Last spring, campus protests and encampments in support of Palestine created a frenzy of conversations about freedom of speech: When do protests cross the line and demand consequences for disruptions?
Students all over the country have protested the Israel-Hamas war in many different ways. A protest at the University of Chicago last spring took the form of a walkout during a graduation ceremony. According to The Guardian, “the disruption to the ceremony was brief,” with students chanting while they held Palestinian flags and eventually dispersed. In response, University of Chicago sent four graduating seniors an email saying their diplomas would be withheld while a disciplinary suspension process took place regarding their role in the protests.
Other campuses, such as the University of California Los Angeles, have had more disruptive protests. Last April, NBC reported that Jewish students were being physically prevented from going to class by pro-Palestinian protesters. Three students filed a report about the protests and their case eventually went to court.
“Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith,” U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi wrote, siding with the three students.“This fact is so unimaginable and so abhorrent to our constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.” Ultimately, law enforcement cleared the protests, however, this decision was met with a backlash from students who said that it went against their Constitutional rights under the First Amendment.
More recently, in June, pro-Palestinian students running under the Shut It Down party – a movement to encourage schools to divest in companies profiting from the Israel-Hamas war – at the University of Michigan were voted into the Central Student Government, which is where most student activities get their funds for trips. They immediately decided to withhold all funds from student groups until the university committed to divesting from Israeli companies that benefit from the war.
As a result of this, many students have been prevented from participating in their clubs and extracurriculars.
“It’s incredibly stressful,” Nicolette Kleinhoffer, president of the Michigan ballroom dance team, said in an interview with the New York Times. The team relies on the student government for the majority of its funding for competitions, coaches, and practice spaces.
The decision to defund student programs was an effective strategy for pro-Palestinian protesters, causing some schools to divest in Israeli companies. However, as school begins again some wonder whether colleges will actually decide to divest or punish students involved.
It’s also important to note that the student government’s budget comes from student fees, not the school’s endowment.
“It feels a little silly to me to refuse to hand out money that’s coming from students to help students,” Gabriel Scheck, president and captain of the men’s Ultimate Frisbee team at University of Michigan, said in a New York Times interview. The Ultimate Frisbee team relies on the student government for a third of its annual budget.
Earlier in September, Cornell University students shut down a campus job fair that included defense contractors from the companies L3Harris and Boeing, companies from which students want their universities to divest.. Currently, nearly 20 protesters have been identified by college officials through video and photographic evidence.
According to the Monday afternoon statement of the Cornell Daily Sun, protesters were explicitly told by Cornell University Police Department officers that they were not permitted to enter Statler Hotel, therefore the protests directly went against the Student Code of Conduct.
As outlined in Cornell’s Code of Conduct, students placed under interim measures such as suspension are provided information about the charges and the appeal process, with full temporary suspension allowing for “two independent levels of appeal, the final being to the provost of the University.”
A full temporary suspension was only recommended for students who physically pushed past officers into the building. However, despite the lack of harsh school discipline, one exchange student, Momodou Taal, is at risk of deportation due to his violation of his F-1 (Academic Student) visa.
As the school year continues to unfold, universities and students around the country will have to make the decision about how much to risk. Will students continue to protest and possibly have severe consequences? Will universities divest or continue to fight back against protests?
Currently, both sides – students and schools – are trying to make the right decisions for themselves and for those around them. However, there will always be differences as to what are considered correct protocols and how to achieve them.
Article by Jada Jones
The Axe 