University of Pennsylvania Suspends Four Students Over ‘Pro-Palestinian Activism’

University of Pennsylvania Suspends Four Students Over ‘Pro-Palestinian Activism’

It sounds like there is more to the story on this. Schools don’t just suspend students for activism.

The Daily Pennsylvanian reports:

Penn suspends four students involved in recent campus activism, local pro-Palestinian groups say

Penn has suspended four students involved with on-campus pro-Palestinian activism — including the Gaza Solidarity Encampment — according to an Instagram post from the Freedom School for Palestine.

The post states that the students received semesterlong or yearlong suspensions in letters notifying them of their updated disciplinary status on June 27. The suspensions mark the University’s most significant disciplinary response to the encampment to date.

“Penn continues to review student conduct cases in connection with campus demonstrations this spring,” a University spokesperson wrote in a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian. “The University affords due process to all students in accordance with our policies and recommends sanctions as appropriate on a case-by-case basis.”

“Penn administrators colluded with Penn Police to identify students from body cam footage and targeted students who had previously been involved in on-campus activism,” the Instagram post, which was jointly posted on the accounts of the Freedom School for Palestine, the Philly Palestine Coalition, the Drexel Palestine Coalition, Temple Students for Justice in Palestine, Penn Students Against the Occupation of Palestine, and Penn Faculty for Justice in Palestine, reads.

It further states that those suspended “cannot access Penn healthcare or on-campus jobs that sustain their livelihoods.”

The post concludes with a “call to action” asking community members to send letters to Provost John Jackson Jr. and Vice Provost for University Life Karu Kozuma calling for all charges to be dropped, adding that the two administrators have “unilateral authority” to drop the cases.

The Daily Pennsylvanian previously reported that Penn placed six student organizers affiliated with the encampment on mandatory leaves of absence in May.

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