Five anti-Israel UCI students sue university over encampment suspension

Five student protesters from the University of California, Irvine, have sued the school after getting suspended for breaking the code of conduct. 

The five undergraduate students suing UC Irvine were a part of the dozens of students arrested after refusing to cease protests and to dismantle their encampment that remained on campus for two weeks earlier this year. 

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UC’s policy grants interim suspension to students “when there is reasonable cause to believe that the student’s participation in University activities or presence . . . will lead to physical abuse, threats of violence, or conduct that that threatens . . . health or safety . . . or other disruptive activity incompatible with the orderly operation of campus.”

In May, Campus Reform covered the UC Irvine protest that resulted in 47 arrests, despite the students claiming that the protest was “peaceful.” At the time, Chancellor Howard Gillman called the occasion a “sad day for the university.”

“On several occasions during the spring and early summer of this year, the University of California, Irvine (the “University” or “UCI”) issued sweeping ‘interim’ suspensions to students based on their peaceful protest activity on campus,” the lawsuit says. “These suspensions were issued without prior notice or an opportunity to be heard and resulted in a near-total ban from campus, including campus housing for students who lived there, for an unspecified period of time.”

“The interim suspensions have been imposed without any individualized showing that would justify a departure from bedrock due process protections,” it continues. “Moreover, the interim suspensions have not been tailored in any way to address the concerns raised by the students’ alleged conduct.”

The university states its support for free speech as long as it does not contradict with the safety of students and staff.

According to Inside Higher Ed, the students’ lawyer, Thomas Harvey, claims that the school did not properly communicate with the students with a notice of their suspension or with a hearing. 

Harvey, a self-proclaimed “racial justice advocate,” has previously displayed on his X account his distaste of the justice system. 

[RELATED: ‘WE WILL NOT REST’: 50 arrested at UC Irvine after students storm campus building]

“The sheer amount of violence cops commit & the money we spend on them is mindblowing,” he wrote in November 2020. “Cops harass, arrest, beat, & sexually assault people regularly. We pay them to do it & protect their violence in courts.” 

Campus Reform has contacted UC Irvine for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.