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More than 760 UNC faculty sign a petition for amnesty for students suspended following pro-Palestine demonstrations

CHAPEL HILL, NC — More than 760 faculty and staff at UNC-Chapel Hill are calling on Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts to grant amnesty to students who were suspended during pro-Palestinian protests that led to clashes between students, protesters and police.

A letter written by UNC Provost Chris Clemens and Dean of the Graduate School Beth Mayer-Davis said they were concerned about the possibility of faculty withholding grades as part of the protest.

The letter read:

We are hearing concerns from students whose teachers have told them they will withhold grades in protest. These students rely on the timely submission of their degree, career, and athletic eligibility grades, and it is the required responsibilities of all faculty and graduate TAs to submit grades within the registrar’s deadlines.

We ask that you work with your faculty and graduate students to ensure that we use best practices in our work as educators. We strongly support the rights of faculty and graduate students to freely express their opinions, but there are better ways to do so than to hurt our students and terminate our contract with the people of North Carolina who support our university. We count on your leadership in this matter.

The Office of the Provost will advocate for sanctions against any faculty member found to have wrongfully withheld grades. However, we hope that we can resolve this matter amicably and without harm to students.

Excellence in teaching and research is a credit to the institution and an important service to the students and people of North Carolina. It would be a disservice to all of you and to the institution if a minority of faculty were to damage the trust we place in our students by withholding grades. Thank you for your support.

A separate letter from faculty said the university undermined public trust after calling police to clear an encampment on April 30. Faculty supporting the protesters say they will withhold grades until the 15 suspended students are reinstated.

“The continued withholding of arrest records from public scrutiny has further eroded public trust,” the letter reads in part.

“Not proud of UNC:” Protesters march through campus, stopping traffic and disrupting student activities

On Monday afternoon, some faculty members and students marched to the entrance of the South Building, where the administrative offices are located. A large sheet that was carried read “UNC FACULTY & STAFF FOR JUSTICE IN PALESTINE.”

The faculty letter said the protesters were peaceful, but UNC said the protesters damaged the quad.

“They face a lot of uncertainty and retaliation from the university,” said student Kylie Broderick. “They are steadfast in demanding that they deserve amnesty for protesting for human rights against an amoral war. It is not the university’s responsibility to punish them for simply standing up for justice.”

Faculty and staff claimed 15 UNC students arrested at the camp were suspended from the university. They say the suspensions are a violation of their freedom of speech. Some students were banned from campus.

“We hope he understands that we will not tolerate this terrible and brutal treatment of our students,” said Michal Osterwil, a professor of global studies at UNC. “We will not tolerate students’ freedom of expression being restricted in this way.”

UNC has not confirmed that students have been suspended and maintains that federal privacy laws prevent it from sharing that information. The university confirmed that the commencement ceremony will take place on May 11 as planned.

WRAL News reached out to UNC for comment regarding receipt of this petition but did not receive a response.

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