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Protests at Columbia University, the University of Texas at Austin, and George Washington University, pictured above from left to right, all ended in arrests and alleged student conduct violations, many of which are still being resolved.
Photo illustration by Justin Morrison/Inside Higher Ed | Stephanie Keith/Getty Images | Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP/Getty Images | Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
Universities have spent the summer dealing with the aftermath of pro-Palestinian encampments that sprung up on campuses in the second half of the spring semester. In some cases, that has meant resolving swaths of disciplinary cases; in far fewer, it has involved moving forward with agreements administrators reached with students to disclose or look into divesting from investments in weapons manufacturers and other companies that profit off the war in Gaza.
College leaders are also thinking about how to prepare for the next academic year, whether that means putting in place new safety infrastructure, reworking protest policies or introducing new opportunities for civic dialogue and education about Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Kenneth Stern, director of Bard College’s Center for the Study of Hate and the author of The Conflict over the Conflict: The Israel/Palestine Campus Debate (University of Toronto Press, 2020), said he has seen fewer instances than he’d like of administrators developing educational programming. By now, he said, it should be evident to universities that doling out sanctions may not be the best strategy; it’s time for them to use their academic expertise to move forward.
“You’re not going to discipline your way out of this,” he said. “I’d like to see the whole roster of what educational institutions [could] do.”
As the fall semester approaches, organizations on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian debate have weighed in on how they would like to see institutions handle protesters. A group of five Jewish organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League, released guidance for universities regarding how to keep the peace during the upcoming school year, including by clearly communicating protest policies and protecting Jewish students from discrimination through antisemitism trainings and other measures.
Meanwhile, a report by the Council on American-Islamic Relations that highlighted instances of Islamophobia and anti-Arab sentiment on college campus since last October, offered administrators different recommendations, including that they engage in good-faith negotiations with protesters, end the practice of sending in police to break up peaceful demonstrations and establish task forces to investigate the doxxing and cyber-harassment of protesters.
As the semester and a potential wave of new protests approaches, here’s where things stand at some of the institutions most impacted by the pro-Palestinian protest movement.
Changing Campus Access
Columbia University, the epicenter of last spring’s protests after student activists on campus set up an encampment ahead of President Minouche Shafik’s appearance before Congress, has battened down the hatches ahead of the fall semester. Shafik resigned from her presidency on Wednesday, saying that the recent “period of turmoil” had taken a toll on her family. The university announced last week that, until further notice, only individuals with university IDs can enter the campus, and they must fill out a “guest registration form” if they want to bring anyone else to campus.
“This change is intended to keep our community safe given reports of potential disruptions at Columbia and on college campuses across the country as we approach the beginning of the new school year,” Columbia’s chief operating officer, Cas Holloway, said in a public statement announcing the change. “We are particularly concerned about nonaffiliates who may not have the best interests of the Columbia community in mind.”
The campus, located in Manhattan, previously restricted access on multiple occasions amid protests in the spring.
The University of Southern California has re-opened all entrances to its campus after closing all but three in late April. But restrictions remain: Anyone who doesn’t hold a campus ID and hasn’t been registered as a guest by someone who does must visit a “campus welcome services tents” before entering. Additionally, while pedestrian access points will be open at all times, only two entrances for vehicles will be open on weekends and on weekdays after 8 p.m.
Some universities have also reversed spring semester restrictions on protesting. American University, which controversially implemented a rule in January unilaterally prohibiting students from protesting inside of buildings, seemed to reverse that in an email to campus on Tuesday.
“The January 25, 2024, directives are no longer in effect,” said the email, which focused primarily on upcoming changes to various demonstration policies. “Once the revised policies are completed and in effect, we will continue community engagement and make further updates as appropriate if new questions arise.”
Charges Dropped or Upheld
Many protesters who received sanctions or were criminally charged for their involvement in spring protests have had those charges and other sanctions dropped over the summer. Travis County Attorney Delia Garza announced in June that she would drop the charges of 79 individuals who were arrested for trespassing while protesting at the University of Texas at Austin on April 29, according to KVUE, an ABC affiliate in Austin. She noted that her office spent 90 hours reviewing the cases.
But many of those students still face university sanctions. UT Austin officials said they were “disappointed” the charges were dropped.
In other instances, students who hoped their sanctions would be overturned by the fall semester will instead return with major restrictions in place regarding how they can access campus. Last week, for example, the Associated Press reported that six University of Georgia students who had appealed their sanctions—which include a one-semester suspension and academic probation for the rest of their time at UGA—will have those sanctions upheld. (Several other UGA students who violated the institution’s student conduct policy reportedly had their sanctions dropped in exchange for admitting to the wrongdoing.)
At the University of Texas at Dallas, nine protesters—six current students and three who graduated in the spring—are appealing their sanctions; KERA News, a public radio station in Texas, reported that they are currently awaiting hearing dates as the fall semester rapidly approaches. Two University of South Florida protesters also recently announced that their appeals had been unsuccessful.
At some institutions, human rights organizations are intervening on behalf of protesters, saying that their punishments violate students’ right to protest. The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Maryland wrote to Towson University to oppose the punishment of five students who participated in a “die-in” in November, arguing that the university violated the students’ First Amendment rights in doing so. The ACLU claims two of those punished with “deferred suspensions,” which appear on the students’ disciplinary records but don’t prohibit them from coming to campus as usual, were not even involved in the demonstration.
According to The Baltimore Sun, a Towson spokesperson wrote in a statement: “We look forward to the opportunity to discuss with the ACLU the facts of the matter.”
Elsewhere, prosecutors have offered students a deal: They will drop charges if the implicated students accept certain conditions. At George Washington University in Washington, D.C., students facing charges for protesting were told their criminal charges will be dropped if they limit their access to campus over the next six months, The Washington Post reported last week. Those who accept the deal will not be permitted to go anywhere on campus besides their dorms and their classes. (This paragraph has been updated to reflect that it was prosecutors, not administrators, who offered GW's students the deal.)
“The District of Columbia is responsible for determining the conditions of any plea agreement, including whether to impose the stay-away order on these individuals and its scope,” a university spokesperson told Inside Higher Ed via email. “Additionally, GW’s position, which it previously expressed to the District of Columbia, is that if it wishes to impose a stay-away order, any enrolled student who has not been suspended by the university should be able to attend classes on campus.”
Pomona College reached a similar agreement with protesters. Nineteen individuals who were arrested while protesting on campus will have their charges dropped if they complete 16 hours of community service and incur no more criminal charges over the next six months.
Organizing in the New Semester
Though protesting died down significantly over the summer, pro-Palestinian student groups are likely to revive their efforts in the fall.
At its annual national convention this summer, the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) passed a resolution to coordinate a National Student Strike for Palestine in the coming semester, in which students across the country will skip their classes to disrupt campus and draw attention to Israel’s attacks on Gaza, for example.
“It is the strategy which leverages what we have—the people—against our college administrations,” a New York University YDSA member wrote in an editorial supporting the resolution. “The fact that it will be a national movement, a cohesive one which is coordinated, will help build momentum and create the largest student action this country has ever seen.”
Stern said he believes students are unlikely to be dissuaded from protesting because they faced consequences last semester, or because their universities are introducing new regulations around protests.
“It’s probably useful for students to know what the expectations are, but I don’t know if that’s definitely going to change the dynamics,” he said. “If students are willing to violate [existing policies] … that’s not going to stop them.”
Corey Saylor, research and advocacy director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), also feels protesters are unlikely to back down anytime soon.
Student protesters, he said, “have been threatened by university administration, subjected to state force in too many instances, had employers threaten career prospects and they are still standing on their morals … our understanding is it is quite probable that protests will start up again once everybody goes back to school.”
