ATHENS — The April protest on the University of Georgia’s campus against Israel’s war in Gaza lasted less than two hours.
The suspension of six students, among 16 people arrested on the last day of spring semester classes, has dragged on more than three months.
And on Tuesday, a disciplinary code of conduct hearing to determine the students’ educational fate stretched more than 13 hours.
With fall classes beginning in two weeks, there still had been no resolution as of Wednesday afternoon.
UGA has maintained a hard stance from the beginning. The students have dug in their heels.
“I am, on paper, a stellar UGA student, consistently applauded for my integrity and leadership capabilities,” Ezra Lewis, a suspended landscape architecture major and honors college member, said during the hearing. “After all I’ve given to this university, the university has chosen to label me as a current and present threat to campus.”
Campus police quickly arrested protesters on April 29 after setting up an encampment not far from the office of university president Jere Morehead. UGA suspended the students hours later, while some were still in jail. After authorities released the students from custody, the university instructed faculty and staff to call 911 if they saw the students on campus.
Similar demonstrations were spreading on college campuses around the country. Georgia’s flagship public university moved to shut them down more quickly than elsewhere.
“Send a message: We are not going to allow Georgia to become the next Columbia University,” Gov. Brian Kemp told reporters after the arrests and suspensions.
Subsequent demonstrations on UGA’s campus fizzled and a protest later that week was held off campus. Graduation went off without a hitch at Sanford Stadium, unlike at some other colleges, including Emory University, a private Atlanta university that moved its commencement off campus following protests.
UGA administrators wrote in a public letter in early May that protesters “chose to be arrested” by ignoring campus rules governing demonstrations. But a petition signed by at least 180 faculty and staff called the suspensions “unwarranted and antithetical to our educational mission.”
On Tuesday, Dr. K. Chad Clay, associate professor in UGA’s Department of International Affairs, testified at the hearing at Memorial Hall on campus that he felt the “suspensions should be removed at this time, and (the students) should be allowed to complete their education.”
Some suspended UGA students agreed to an informal resolution by acknowledging the violations and accepting responsibility, according to two people familiar with the matter.
But the other six students have remained resolute.
They opted to bring the case to a panel made up of two UGA students and one faculty member.
Already, one of the students was unable to complete coursework and graduate in May. Another managed to finish classes for her degree but was unable to attend commencement. Others said they will no longer graduate when previously planned and lost scholarships. Lewis said she lost housing and her job on campus as a resident assistant.
Now they face expulsion among the list of potential sanctions listed in the UGA Code of Conduct if the panel finds them in violation of campus policies.
Still, each of the six spent time during Tuesday’s hearing reiterating their views on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, criticizing Israel.
The panelists representing UGA stated they weren’t there to make judgments on political and social views.
They argued that the encampment endangered police officers and students, and disrupted campus operations. They said students had ample warning to disperse.
“This demonstration was in in clear violation of the university’s freedom of expression policies,” said Mehar Nemani, a political science major and student advocate on the UGA panel.
The suspended students presented their own testimony and witnesses. They were helped by lawyers working pro bono.
“There’s no evidence that our actions disrupted any academic activities or put any other person in danger,” said Lauren Heinze, a senior who said she was unable to graduate in May due to the suspension. “In fact, the university put us in danger by sending dozens of armed police officers to break up a peaceful demonstration.”
Tuesday’s hearing began at 9 a.m. and ended at 10:06 p.m. There were recesses for lunch and dinner and frequent breaks when students conferred with their lawyers or the panel discussed procedural decisions.
It wasn’t the longest code of conduct hearing in UGA’s history, a spokesperson said.
“Whatever the outcome for (this) proceeding,” said suspended graduate student and teaching assistant Austin Kral, “I would not change a thing.”
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