ATHENS, Ga. — The University of Georgia has handed down its decisions for six students who were suspended after participating in a pro-Palestine protest on its campus back in April.
This comes after 16 people were arrested and charged with criminal trespassing and remaining on property after being told to leave while protesting on UGA's North Campus Quad, with half a dozen of those arrested that day being UGA students.
The University of Georgia Office of Student Conduct (OSC) tribunal determined during a 13-hour hearing that the six students had violated five different provisions of the UGA Code of Conduct, one of which was that the student's speech used that day was not "constitutionally protected freedom of speech and expression." The six students were thus suspended for the upcoming Fall 2024 semester and banned from campus through Jan. 1, 2025.
The university said the students will face their prolonged suspensions and will be placed on indefinite probation after that. The students will not be allowed in any classroom, residence hall or administrative building effective immediately.
In a statement made by University of Georgia spokesperson Greg Trevor, it was explained that the hearings are typically closed, but the students chose to exercise their right that the hearing be open to the public.
"The University will continue to enforce our policies to protect the free expression rights of all members of our community while recognizing that such activities must comply with applicable laws and policies," the university said in a statement.
The panel, which included two students and one full-time UGA faculty member, found the six students not guilty of "conduct that threatens or endangers the health or safety of another person, including but not limited to physical violence, abuse, intimidation, and/or coercion...," according to meeting minutes from the decision by the UGA OSC. The students were originally facing a violation of that provision.
“Out of the thousands of expressive activities held on campus at the University of Georgia last academic year, only one led to arrests: the morning of April 29, 2024, when well-organized protesters planned an event in willful violation of University policy, formed a clearly prohibited encampment on our historic North Campus Quad, and refused repeated warnings to either comply with policies or disperse,” UGA said in the statement.
The students can appeal the decision to the vice president of student affairs.