UT organization involved in protests suspended
Protesters gathered on UT's campus again on Friday, but the gathering was not put on by the Palestine Solidarity Committee.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Protesters gathered on the University of Texas Austin campus again on Friday, but the gathering was not put on by the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC).
One member of the PSC, the group that has now been suspended, said other UT groups stepped in to host Friday's gathering.
Those in attendance could be seen playing music, making posters and listening to speakers. Protesters KXAN spoke with tell us they were once again out today to raise awareness about the innocent people being killed in Gaza.
The PSC was named multiple times in an internal Memo KXAN obtained:
"Throughout the year, the Office of the Dean of Students has continually worked
with student organizations, including multiple attempts for outreach to our local
group, the Palestine Solidarity Committee, to ensure their right to demonstrate in
ways that are within the boundaries of our Institutional Rules. And student
organizations have held such allowed demonstrations, on many occasions, without
incident."
The Memo went on to say: "The organizing student organization, PSC, has received an interim suspension; individuals who were arrested for criminal trespassing will be removed from campus
and arrested if they return to protest."
"Their message to us was they did not want us to protest anymore and if we did we would have to do it in a different way," said Abdelmajid who's with PSC. "I think the University is making conceited effort, especially the president of our university and Governor Greg Abbott who also released a tweet saying all of these students should be in jail, that free speech is not welcome on this campus, one. And two, they will do anything in their power to intimidate and bully us in getting our message across."
Abdelmajid said PSC is not the only group showing support for the people of Palestine. He said other organizations organized Friday's events.
"They can ban or suspend our organization, but they can't suspend or ban the beliefs that we hold and the fervor that we hold in upholding and uplifting these beliefs and speaking for the people of Gaza, affiliated to UT or not, our message has always stayed the same and it has always been very clear," said Abdelmajid.
A UT spokesperson tells us PSC has been placed on interim suspension due to alleged violation of institutional rules. The spokesperson went on to say: "the group is on interim suspension. Not the individuals."
Some protesters are now calling for UT President Jay Hartzell to step down from his position.
"We also want now, especially after the incident that took place a couple of days ago, the resignation of Jay Hartzell," said Abdelmajid.
Hartzell released this comment following the protests:
Dear Campus Community,
Yesterday was clearly a rough, divisive day for our campus. As the push to disrupt top universities spreads across the country, many campuses such as ours are facing similarly difficult challenges. We are all wrestling with how to juggle broad, important goals, including student safety, continuity and excellence in teaching and research, and the right to express one's views and call for change. I imagine that virtually all of us support each of those goals, even though we might disagree to some extent about how to weigh them in a particular situation. The University's decision to not allow yesterday's event to go as planned was made because we had credible indications that the event's organizers, whether national or local, were trying to follow the pattern we see elsewhere, using the apparatus of free speech and expression to severely disrupt a campus for a long period. Consistent with this broader movement that is impacting so many, problematic aspects of the planned protest were modeled after a national organization's protest playbook. And notably, 26 of the 55 individuals arrested yesterday had no UT affiliation.
Against this backdrop, I am reminded today that we have much to be thankful for. I'm thankful we live in a country where free expression is a fiercely protected Constitutional right. I'm grateful that our campus has seen 13 pro-Palestinian events take place during the past several months largely without incident — plus another one today. I am grateful that everyone is safe after yesterday, we continue to hold in-person classes, and that today's events followed our long-standing campus standards for allowed demonstrations. And I'm grateful to work in a place where people with different points of view come together to try to solve hard problems. Some days, those problems seem especially daunting, but changing the world for the better isn't easy.-President Jay Hartzell
Thank you for showing your fellow Longhorns grace and empathy, and for remembering that we're all trying to support and educate an incredibly talented group of students. I encourage us all to continue to communicate and work together, and to help our students finish this school year in positive, safe and celebratory ways.