University of Rochester plans to suspend student protesters

UPDATE: Students for Justice in Palestine issued a statement Thursday afternoon saying the suspensions violated an agreement between university administrators and protesters who took part in a sit-in that would protect those students from disciplinary action.

“We view these suspensions as the next phase of the university’s long-term campaign to silence students, faculty, staff and community members from their calls for peace and expressions of Palestinian solidarity,” the group said in a statement.

The group announced a “Speak Out” event with other activist groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace Rochester at Genesee Valley Park on Thursday at 6 p.m. A separate Instagram post said the university had suspended more than 10 students.

The full message from Students for Justice in Palestine follows:

“Despite explicit agreements between students involved in the Resilience (Wallis) Hall sit-in and university administration assuring them protection from disciplinary action or punitive action, administrators have taken further escalatory actions to suppress student voices by They officially “”Interim Suspensions.” We view these suspensions as the follow-up phase of the University’s long-term campaign to discourage students, faculty, staff and community members from their calls for peace and expressions of Palestinian solidarity. Join us to discuss the details of the conditions violated by university administrators, the impact of the suspensions, and the university’s apparent bias and discriminatory treatment toward students involved in Palestinian solidarity actions.

The original article continues below.

Noelle EC Evans

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WXXI News

The University of Rochester plans to begin suspending student protest leaders as the administration seeks to “restore life on campus” after months of unrest over the war in Gaza.

“We have reached a point where we must restore life on campus to ensure the safety and well-being of all members of the university community,” UR President Sarah Mangelsdorf wrote in a letter distributed to the campus community on Thursday .

Suspended students will no longer have access to university resources, she continued, “and their personal academic progress will be put on hold, subject to their opportunity for a hearing on these matters.”

Mangelsdorf specifically pointed to a pro-Palestinian encampment, now in its third week, that began in the Wilson Quadrangle but then moved to the Eastman Quadrangle, and recent sit-ins in Wallis Hall, the main administrative building on campus. The second sit-in resulted in vandalism, she said.

However, she wrote that the suspensions would apply to those students who repeatedly violated the code of conduct over months of intermittent unrest.

It was not immediately clear how many students would be affected by the suspensions or whether they were high school seniors. The graduation ceremony is next Friday. A university spokesman declined to provide further details.

The full letter from Mangelsdorf follows below.

Dear members of the university community,

For more than two weeks, we have watched as students protesting the war in Gaza set up and occupied an encampment similar to those on campuses across the country, first on the Wilson Quadrangle and then on the Eastman Quadrangle. In consultation with my senior leadership team, which includes leaders from student life, academics and security, we have taken a civil approach to the camp and the students who organized it to find common ground during these complicated times.

In implementing our Meliora values, we have respected our students’ ability to express their views on the war and university policies. However, we have made it clear that we would not tolerate behavior that undermines the ability of students, faculty and staff to fulfill their purpose at the university. We have also made it clear that we would not tolerate conduct that would be considered harassment or intimidation of members of our community based on their perceived national origin, race, or other status protected by our federal obligations under the Office for Civil Rights. Our top priority has always been the safety and well-being of our campus community.

Now, two weeks later, we have reached a point where we must restore life on campus to ensure the safety and well-being of all members of the university community. That’s why I’m writing today to inform the university community that students who have repeatedly violated our conduct policies over the past year will be suspended. These suspended students will no longer have access to University resources and their personal academic progress will be placed on hold, subject to the opportunity for a hearing on these matters. In accordance with law and policy, the identities of students subject to hearings will remain confidential and we will respect these requirements.

Since protests began on campus last fall, we have given students space to express their views while always ensuring campus safety. Although we have clearly and repeatedly communicated to them our expectations and guidelines for peaceful protests, it is fair to say that we have allowed them – without much consequence – to act in ways that we have not allowed other student organizations to do in hopes of doing so that we could find a way forward based on our ethos as an academic community based on discussion and dialogue.

As the months passed, the students leading the protests became less willing to engage in honest discourse with us and chose to violate agreements they had willingly entered into.

To repeat our most recent example:

On Wednesday, May 1st, protesting students occupied parts of the ground floor of Wallis Hall and put forward several demands.

Administrators and faculty members negotiated in good faith and allowed students to leave the building without sanction in exchange for an agreement that they would not occupy buildings for the remainder of the academic year.

The students also agreed to an offer to give a presentation to the university’s Faculty Senate about their concerns about the university’s ties to Israeli academic programs. They were able to give this presentation on Tuesday, May 7th.

And finally, the group agreed to disband the camp within a five-day period, ending on Monday, May 6th.

In violation of the agreement, protesting students staged a second sit-in on the ground floor of Wallis Hall on Friday, May 3, during which vandalism occurred.

And by Monday, May 6, the camp was not only still there, it had been physically fortified with bricks, concrete blocks and fencing.

While all members of our community have the freedom to express their opinions, no one should be permitted to act in a manner that disrupts the work and activities of others on campus. No group should be allowed to monopolize an important campus resource like the Eastman Quadrangle. And no one should be allowed to create a campus environment that intimidates and harasses many of their fellow citizens. We will continue to take disciplinary action against those who repeatedly violate University policies.

As we end the semester and head into Commencement Weekend, this is a time for reflection. I promise that we will evaluate the steps we have taken – and not taken – over the past year on many of our policies and approaches. I am confident that we will learn from our experiences as we work to become a better community.

This has been a challenging year for our campus, our country and our connected world. I hope that this year also offers us new opportunities – to reflect on our values, to treat our fellow citizens with understanding in the community and to work for a future of peace.

Sincerely,

Sarah C. Mangelsdorf
President and G. Robert Witmer, Jr. University Professor