UT Dallas to begin disciplinary hearings for arrested anti-Israel student protesters, could be suspended or expelled
The University of Texas at Dallas began holding disciplinary hearings for students arrested during anti-Israel protests at the school during the spring semester.
The University of Texas at Dallas began holding disciplinary hearings for students arrested during anti-Israel protests at the school during the spring semester.
According to the Dallas Express, students at UT Dallas occupied a portion of campus as part of an anti-Israel protest, resulting in the arrest of 21 people, which included nine students and three professors on May 1.
Those arrested were barred from campus besides attending class and activities that are work-related.
UT Dallas is investigating the arrested students to see if they violated the Student Code of Conduct.
[RELATED: UT Austin offers probation to some students arrested at Hamas-endorsed protest]
During the hearing, a panel will determine whether the student violated policy and an appropriate sanction, ranging from probation all the way up to expulsion.
Noor Saleh, who will be entering her fourth year at UT Dallas, told the Dallas Morning News, “We reject the notion that we committed a crime of any sort or that we violated any university policy.”
“I’m angry that that’s the response for our calls for divestment,” Saleh said. “We’ve been organizing for divestment and for the university to sell its shares from weapon manufacturing companies for the past three years.”
In an op-ed published in May, UT Dallas President Richard C. Benson wrote that arrests weren’t made for students simply protesting, explaining that an encampment “constructed under the cover of night at the center of our campus, impeding faculty, staff and students from their daily tasks, is not protected by the First Amendment or our speech and assembly policies.”
