NYU began disciplinary hearings for student protesters who were involved in recent pro-Palestinian protests on campus, an Instagram post from the NYU Palestine Solidarity Coalition and several other student and faculty groups states. NYU PSC did not say how many students had been charged with misconduct violations, nor clarify what university policies they were accused of violating.
In the post — also shared by NYU’s Students for Justice in Palestine, Law Students for Justice in Palestine, Shut it Down NYU, Jews Against Zionism and Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine — the groups called on university affiliates to email the Office of Student Conduct with demands for misconduct charges to be dropped. An NYU spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.
The groups also noted the recent arrests of pro-Palestinian protesters at two separate encampments on campus, saying NYU “has decided to double down on their repression” in bringing misconduct charges. An email template shared by the groups calls for the OSC and university administrators to express “support for the student protesters and their demands that the university divest from war profiteering and the genocide in Gaza.”
“The fact that NYU is attempting to discipline students for protesting the university’s complicity in genocide after already calling the NYPD to brutally arrest protesters only shows NYU’s commitment to supporting genocide and occupation,” the template reads. “This is a decisive moment in history and you should be proud of your students for being on the right side of it.”
Since the first Gaza Solidarity Encampment in Gould Plaza two weeks ago — which saw 133 protesters arrested, including students and faculty — NYU PSC has reiterated demands for the university to divest from companies and weapons manufacturers with ties to Israel, shut down its Tel Aviv site, remove police from campus and forgive students and faculty facing disciplinary action for their involvement in demonstrations. NYU had said it is not considering divestment from Israel, and repeatedly rejected calls to close its Tel Aviv program.
The NYU Alumni for Justice in Palestine group, which represents over 3,000 alumni, previously announced it would help provide legal support to any students, faculty or other university affiliates who took part in the Gould Plaza encampment.
The university has reviewed more than 160 conduct cases “related to current concerns” since October, although administrators have said many of these involved unidentifiable or unaffiliated individuals. Two professors were also suspended earlier this year after they made comments on Israel’s ongoing siege in Gaza, and NYU recently terminated a postdoctoral instructor after footage emerged online of him taking down posters of hostages taken by Hamas. Last semester, a first-year student was suspended after taking down posters of hostages and is now suing NYU for allegedly misapplying its conduct policies to her case.
NYU PSC did not respond to requests for comment.
Contact Yezen Saadah at [email protected].
