UGA suspends six students for participation in anti-Israel encampment: 'Well-organized'
The University of Georgia suspended six students for the fall 2024 semester after their pro-Palestine protest was deemed to have violated university policy.
The students, who were part of an encampment on campus, plan to appeal the decision while reaffirming their stance against Israel.
The University of Georgia has suspended six anti-Israel protestors for the fall 2024 semester, the has announced, contending that the demonstrations “clearly” violated university policy.
Greg Trevor, a spokesperson for the University of Georgia, sent Campus Reform a statement that condemned the pro-Palestine protests held in April and said that the students “clearly” violated university policy.
Trevor referenced that, in late April, students at UGA set up an encampment on their quad, as many other student groups did nationwide. Around 25 students initially started the encampment, stating their goals were “solidarity, disclosure, protection and divestment” from Israel, according to The Red and Black.
“We’re out here in numbers, and we expect more and more people to join — and, this is something that genuinely is historic and people will talk about,” one student said.
Trevor described the student protestors as “well-organized,” and contended that the demonstration was planned “in willful violation of University policy.”
The protestors “formed a clearly prohibited encampment on our historic North Campus Quad, and refused repeated warnings to either comply with policies or disperse,” Trevor added.
Trevor continued to explain that six UGA students were arrested and charged “with multiple violations of the University’s Code of Student Conduct.”
The students “specifically requested a joint formal hearing before the student-led University Judiciary,” Trevor continued, but the students lost their case before the panel of reviewers.
“The hearing was held on July 30, 2024, and lasted more than 13 hours,” Trevor said. “Afterwards, a three-judge panel of two students and one full-time UGA staff member thoroughly reviewed the evidence and testimony before issuing its decisions on Monday, August 5, 2024.”
“These students have a right to appeal the decisions to the Vice President for Student Affairs,” Trevor wrote.
The University of Georgia spokesperson stated that, though the university aims to maintain respect for the free expression rights of its students, it’s important to ensure that the expression is done in compliance “with applicable laws and policies.”
The suspended students immediately doubled down on their pro-Palestine stance, and stated that they desired to use the moment to reaffirm their position against Israel’s counterattack in Gaza.
”Regardless of the disciplinary outcome,” the group of students said, “we want to reaffirm our commitment to solidarity with the Palestinian people and their ongoing and ceaseless resistance to genocide, apartheid, and occupation.”
