NYU suspended three more graduate student workers as part of its crackdown on a pro-Palestinian sit-in last semester, among them an international student allegedly under threat of deportation, the university’s graduate student union said. In response, over 630 students signed a petition demanding that NYU pardon those students and the at least 13 others reportedly suspended after the Dec. 11 protest in Bobst Library. 

The union, GSOC-UAW Local 2110, detailed in the petition that three graduate students lost their on-campus jobs in the Department of Art & Public Policy and that one of the student’s visa will no longer be active once the suspension is in full effect. Emily Gerace, a Ph.D. candidate in English and representative at GSOC, said they don’t have a specific timeline as to when the international student could be deported, but that the student will likely not be able to return to campus after their semester-long suspension. 

Last month, NYU said in a memo that the university will not voluntarily provide information to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel unless a subpoena is issued. It came after the Trump administration threatened to deport international students who have engaged in pro-Palestinian protests amid Israel’s war in Gaza. 

“I’m not surprised that they’re doing this, but it’s a betrayal,” Gerace said in an interview with WSN. “They position themselves as an institution that will not voluntarily cooperate with ICE, but they are making an informed decision to choose this disciplinary measure for an international student.”

At the December demonstration, a group of 13 students staged a sit-in on Bobst’s 12th floor, where President Linda Mills’ office is located, calling for the university to disclose its divestments in companies with ties to Israel. At the same time, dozens more held a study-in, draping posters and flags around a section of the lobby. The groups chanted for around 10 and 30 minutes at the beginning and end of the demonstration, respectively, and some students intermittently dropped dozens of flyers from the top floors. The next day, after students and faculty were named persona non grata and barred from entering multiple university buildings, a group of protesters picketed outside the library, leading to the arrests of two faculty members.

In a statement to WSN, NYU spokesperson John Beckman said the university cannot disclose information about individual disciplinary cases, but that the December sit-in was an “intentional disruption” to the library’s atmosphere and that students created a safety hazard by refusing to comply with Campus Safety officers’ requests to de-escalate. 

“What happened on Dec. 11 and 12 was not peaceful protest,” Beckman said. “It is improper for a small group of people — some not even in our community — to disregard the rights of others by trying to prevent or interrupt other members of our community from entering the library or using it to study for finals.”

The university soon suspended at least 13 students and placed around 20 others on probation. The sanctions quickly became subject to criticism from students and faculty, who said their respective disciplinary proceedings were vague, rushed and lacked standard due process.

On Tuesday, about 30 members of Law Students for Justice in Palestine were prohibited from entering most university buildings after holding a sit-in on Bobst’s top floor and picketing outside the building. They demanded meetings with Mills to discuss the university’s student conduct policy, its stance on immigration and its investments in companies with ties to Israel. 

“I would be interested in what the university defines as peaceful and not peaceful,” Gerace said. “When we try to converse, the university won’t let us. And when we gather in spaces to be heard, we’re punished.”

Last month, dozens of GSOC members sat in the library’s lobby for a three hour study-in, demanding that NYU withdraw its sanctions against all students who were reprimanded for their participation in demonstrations and commit to protecting the safety of international and immigrant students.  

“We have made it very clear that we’re going to keep fighting for Palestine,” Gerace said. “This problem is not gonna go away soon and I hope NYU rethinks its repression tactics.”

Last May, a Ph.D. student at NYU Abu Dhabi’s commencement ceremony was allegedly detained for a week by the Emirati government and deported after pulling out a keffiyeh at the event and yelling “free Palestine” as they crossed the stage. In a statement to WSN, a university spokesperson said NYU had “no authority” over any nation’s immigration or law enforcement.

Contact Amanda Chen at [email protected].