University launches investigation into students arrested during protests on campus – The Daily Texan

Several students arrested in April pro-Palestine The protesters received letters from the university stating that they were being investigated for actions committed during the events.

In a letter obtained by the Texan, the university cited Paragraph 11-500 of institutional rules and student services and said the students may have violated UT’s student code of conduct.

Anne-Marie Jardine, who graduated this spring, said she and other arrested students tried to contact the university before receiving the letters after noticing that documents such as their transcripts were being withheld, but they received little help in resolving the issue.

“I tried to get my transcripts the Monday after I graduated, but there was a suspension,” Jardine said. “Then the following week I got an email saying I was suspended… Then some other people I was arrested with asked me, ‘Did you all just get an email about the suspension?'”

Jardine, who is studying at New York University in the fall, said she panicked when she received an email from NYU saying if she didn’t provide them with a transcript, she might have to forfeit her place. She said she didn’t receive a copy until after she and her mother spent nearly eight hours in the Main Tower. But the lockdown was lifted after 24 hours, she said.

Students who were arrested during the April protests asked the administration last month to allow them to attend the graduation ceremony. The university allowed them to attend, but Jardine said they still have not received their diplomas.

“They said they couldn’t send me my physical diploma and that because of the delay I wouldn’t be able to get a certificate or anything else,” said Aryel Mejia, a graduate who also received a letter.

In an email, a university spokesperson said the letters reflected UT’s commitment to “enforcing institutional rules” and that participants in the April 24 and 29 protests were in “stark contrast” to other pro-Palestinian events on campus.

“The University of Texas will continue to support the constitutional right to free speech for all persons on our campus and will also enforce our rules while ensuring due process and holding students accountable,” a UT spokesperson said in an email.

The letter also stated that students could submit a written statement on their views on the events during the April protests.

The students said they are in limbo until the investigation is complete. They were not given a precise timeline for how long the process might take.

“Nobody has talked about the timeline,” Mejia said. “The only thing we know time-wise is … (we) have to respond by the 18th, but that’s all.”