The University of Texas at Dallas students and recent graduates arrested at an on-campus encampment protesting the war in Gaza will learn their academic fate after a disciplinary hearing Tuesday, according to one arrested student and several campus organizations.
The nine students — along with professors, alumni and community members — were arrested and charged with criminal trespass at a pro-Palestinian protest and encampment set up on UTD’s Chess Plaza May 1.
As part of the students’ bond conditions, they were not allowed on campus aside from class or class-related activities. They now face academic punishment, including possible suspension.
On campus Tuesday, dozens of people rallied and marched in support of the students.
"I think the students at the first protest did nothing wrong," said 20-year-old UTD student Suraj Westman. "They have the right to freedom of speech, to assemble and share their opinions in a public space."
The May 1 crackdown came after a largely peaceful protest, in which demonstrators set up camp, chanted and held signs in support of Palestinians while demanding the university divest from weapons manufacturers with ties to the war in Gaza.
Some in attendance read poems and made art before the situation escalated later in the day after police told protestors to disperse.
Robert Perry, 26, said she believed the students were being targeted for their political beliefs.
“It really shows whose side the state is on," Perry said. "We like to pretend like we have all these protected rights in America but as soon as you say something the billionaires don’t like, suddenly you have the police coming and clearing the encampment."
According to a letter from administrators shared by one student with KERA News, UTD accused the arrested students of violating four university rules: obstructing institutional grounds, disruptive conduct, failing to comply with orders and generally violating university rules.
A UTD spokesperson said the university can’t comment on student disciplinary actions due to student privacy laws.
But according to the arrestees, current students could be put on deferred suspension after Tuesday’s hearings, which would immediately enact suspension if the students violated any other rules until their graduation.
As for students who graduated in May after the protests, the university may deny to outside parties — such as another school or an employer — that those individuals have graduated from UTD if asked until Dec. 13. That potential punishment was first outlined in an anonymous op-ed by one of the arrested students in the UTD student newspaper The Mercury.
Students announced at a press conference last month they planned to challenge UTD’s allegations of wrongdoing. Because the students declined to accept responsibility or punishment for the alleged rule breaking, they must make their cases to a panel in a trial-like hearing, according to UTD’s Student Code of Conduct.
All the students and graduates will be in one hearing, one of the students told KERA News Monday, but their cases will be considered individually. The student asked not to be named at the time so as not to affect the upcoming hearing.
It’s been almost a year since a Hamas-led attack in Israel killed an estimated 1,200 people Oct. 7. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the ensuing war, according to data from Gaza’s health ministry reported by Al Jazeera.
Six people held captive by Hamas were found dead in Gaza last week.
The UT Board of Regents revised the system’s free speech policy late last month to prohibit institutions in their official capacity from expressing positions on “issues of the day.”
It comes as university leaders across Texas and the country face scrutiny over their handling of student protests in response to the war in Gaza. That includes at the University of Texas at Austin, where more than 130 people were arrested. Those charges were later dropped, and at least one student has sued the university.
UTD President Richard Benson announced last month he’ll resign at some point during the 2025 academic year once regents find his replacement. Although he’s faced criticism from UTD students and faculty over the arrests, he did not mention the protests in his letter announcing his departure.
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