University of Minnesota activists say they have been suspended for multiple semesters after occupying campus building
Seven members of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) chapter at the University of Minnesota say the school has suspended them for varying amounts, including for up to two and a half years for one student.
In October, 11 SDS members were arrested after barricading a university building in order to demand divestment from Israel.
Seven members of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) chapter at the University of Minnesota say the school has suspended them for varying amounts, including for up to two and a half years for one student.
As first reported by The Minnesota Daily, the student organization announced the suspensions over Instagram on Dec. 4.
”On the evening of Tuesday, November 27th, the U of MN students arrested during the occupation of Halimy Hall received the results of their disciplinary hearings: 7 out of the 8 students were found guilty on all charges, without direct evidence or reasoning being given to back up these claims,” the group wrote. “As punishment, the administration has decided that all 7 students must pay over $5,500 each in restitution and will be suspended starting January 1st.”
In October, 11 SDS members were arrested after barricading a university building in order to demand divestment from Israel. “The people inside will not leave until our demands are met or they are forcibly removed,” SDS wrote at the time.
In their latest message, the group noted that the suspended students will “have to do 20 hours of community service and write a 5-10 page essay about the ‘difference between vandalism and protest,’” to be readmitted into the university.
”This is the same university that revoked Israel-American historian Raz Segal’s job offer for director of the Holocaust and genocide department last spring after he referred to Israel’s actions as a ‘textbook case of genocide,’” the group continued. “This outcome, like that of Segal’s has nothing to do with fairness but is about maximizing the punishment and suppression of pro-Palestinian voices.”
According to the chapter’s Instagram account, UMN SDS consists of “Students fighting for progressive change and a free Palestine!”
On Friday, the group plans to hold an art protest against Donald Trump and the “racist and reactionary republican [sic] agenda!!”