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Degree denial, deferred suspensions possible for UTD students arrested during protest

UT Dallas students arrested during a pro-Palestinian protest in May face academic sanctions this week as legal cases are pending.

UT Dallas students arrested during a spring pro-Palestinian protest face potential school suspension or denial of degree as their legal cases remain in limbo, according to the students and their lawyers.

This week officials from the University of Texas at Dallas met with some students to inform them of the potential sanctions they face for violating school policies and to give them the option of accepting or denying the university’s charges, some of the students who attended the meetings told The Dallas Morning News.

The students were given five business days to decide whether they accept the charges and sanctions; accept the charges but appeal the sanctions; or deny the charges and sanctions, they said.

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For some, the sanctions could mean not receiving their diplomas until the end of the year despite already graduating. And some said they worry that anything that happens in the disciplinary process could be used as evidence against them in criminal proceedings.

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“We reject the notion that we committed a crime of any sort or that we violated any university policy,” said Noor Saleh, an incoming fourth-year student at UTD who is facing discipline action.

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A spokesperson from UTD said in a statement that university officials cannot comment on student disciplinary actions due to student privacy concerns.

On May 1, students set up an encampment on campus demanding the school divest from companies that provide weapons to war. The demonstration ended after dozens of officers, including local authorities and state troopers in riot gear, dismantled the encampment and arrested 21 protesters.

The criminal trespassing cases are still pending in Collin County.

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On May 24, nine students arrested were notified they would be facing disciplinary proceedings for allegedly violating policies that include obstruction of activity or event, disruptive conduct and failure to comply, the students said.

“I’m angry that that’s the response for our calls for divestment,” Saleh said. “We’ve been organizing for divestment and for the university to sell its shares from weapon manufacturing companies for the past three years.”

Following protests at several campuses, the board chairman of the University of Texas System Kevin Eltife said the system will not divest.

“We will continue to maximize our investments to ensure our students have scholarships and we can provide an affordable, accessible education,” he said.

On campuses across the country, pro-Palestinian protests followed Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent bombing in Gaza. The protests culminated in April when students in New York occupied a building at Columbia University, and protests across the country, including in Texas, resulted in scores of students being detained.

University officials nationwide have stressed students have a First Amendment right to protests. Arrests at some schools, including UTD, occurred after students set up an encampment — which included tents and barricades made of pallets, tires and signs — and refused to dismantle it after university officials instructed them to do so.

UTD President Richard Benson wrote in a May op-ed that no one was arrested for being a protester but that the May 1 demonstration differed because having an “encampment constructed under the cover of night at the center of our campus, impeding faculty, staff and students from their daily tasks, is not protected by the First Amendment or our speech and assembly policies.”

The students face four university violations of the code of conduct, including failure to comply with a request of an official of the university; disruptive conduct that interferes with the orderly functioning of the university; a general violation of rules and regulations; and obstruction or interference with programs and activities.

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For current students such as Saleh, the proposed sanction is “deferred suspension,” she said. That meansthey would be automatically suspended if found responsible for any future violation during the remainder of their time at UTD.

Three students who graduated in May face “denial of degree,” which means the university wouldn’t acknowledge that these students graduated until December, students who attended the meetings said.

After the semester ended, some of the graduating students arrested had holds on their accounts preventing access to transcripts and degrees, they said. The holds were lifted in June, and the students said they were told they could order their degrees.

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Mousa Najjar, who graduated in May with a computer science degree, still hasn’t received it, he said. If the sanction goes through, UTD would not be able to confirm he graduated until December, he said.

“If I said that I’m worried about myself and my future, that would be selfish,” Najjar said. “The reason we did this was because of the genocide in Gaza.”

Students at UT who were arrested during the pro-Palestinian protests at the state’s flagship campus are also facing disciplinary proceedings, including deferred suspension, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

Authorities in Travis County, where UT Austin is located, has dismissed charges against the protesters.

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As part of bond conditions, UTD students were banned from campus unless for class and related activities.

Najjar attended his commencement ceremony in May. When his name was called, he walked the stage and brought in a Palestinian flag. He waved the flag at the audience and within minutes he was escorted out by university officials and later escorted off campus by police.

Najjar said he was driving to DFW International Airport to pick up friends when he was stopped by a state trooper who ran his license and proceeded to arrest him on two arrest warrants against him for criminal trespassing and disruption of a meeting or procession.

He was taken to Denton County jail and released on bond later that day. Najjar said that arresting him as an individual will not disrupt the student movement.

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“We’re optimistic that the movement will only grow bigger and stronger in the face of this repression,” he said.

(UT Dallas is a supporter of the Education Lab.)

The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.

The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.