University of Texas at Dallas is holding disciplinary hearings this week for students who were arrested during anti-Israel protests on their campus earlier this year.
Beginning in April, anti-Israel protests erupted across college campuses nationwide, resulting in the arrests of thousands.
Multiple students were arrested on the grounds of the University of Texas at Dallas during the protests.
In late April, UT Dallas students staged a sit-in inside the campus administrative building to demand that the school divest itself from any companies that produce weaponry that is being used against the people of Gaza, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. No arrests were reported in that incident.
However, protests on campus ramped up going into May, as groups of UT Dallas students set up encampments on the campus plaza, leading to the arrest of 21 agitators. Nine students and three professors were among those charged with criminal trespass at the May 1 protest, per KERA News.
As part of their bond conditions, the arrestees were banned from campus outside of class and work-related activities.
According to a letter an arrested student shared with KERA News, UT Dallas is investigating whether the students violated school rules by engaging in disruptive conduct, blocking access to university facilities, or failing to follow instructions of university officials.
According to the UT Dallas Student Code of Conduct, if an arrested student disputes that they violated university rules, they can be granted a hearing in front of a hearing officer or panel made up of faculty, staff, and students from UT Dallas’ Discipline Committee.
At the hearing, students can present evidence, witnesses, and testimony as to why they believe they did not violate university rules. Students are allowed an advisor for support, but the advisor cannot speak on behalf of the student, make arguments or objections, or bring evidence of their own. If the student’s advisor is an attorney, the dean of students may also bring an attorney to the hearing.
The hearing officer or Discipline Committee panel will ultimately determine whether a student violated the campus rules. The group will then decide on appropriate sanctions, which could include disciplinary probation, the withholding of grades or a degree, suspension, expulsion, or other measures. Students will have the option to appeal those decisions.
