UGA students arrested during pro-Palestine protest banned from campus until next year

ATHENS, Ga. — Half a dozen University of Georgia students arrested during a pro-Palestine rally on campus in April have been suspended for the rest of the year.

Around 17 protesters were arrested on the UGA campus after some students and some Athens community members gathered for a demonstration. University officials say six of those protesters are UGA students.

University spokesperson Greg Trevor says the students were charged with multiple violations of the University’s Code of Student Conduct and requested a formal hearing before the student-led University Judiciary.

Those hearings are typically closed, but the students involved requested the hearing be made public. The July 30 hearing lasted more than 13 hours.

According to the panel of two students and one full-time UGA faculty member, the students were found to be in violation of several conduct regulations.

They were suspended for the Fall 2024 semester and will be on probation for the rest of their time at UGA, meaning any Code of Conduct violation will earn them another suspension.

The students are also not allowed on UGA’s campus until January 1, 2025.

“Out of the thousands of expressive activities held on campus at the University of Georgia last academic year, only one led to arrests: the morning of April 29, 2024, when well-organized protesters planned an event in willful violation of University policy, formed a clearly prohibited encampment on our historic North Campus Quad, and refused repeated warnings to either comply with policies or disperse,” Trevor said in a statement.

The students will be allowed to appeal their decisions with university administrators.

The organization Students for Justice in Palestine at UGA said in a lengthy statement they called their suspensions unconstitutional and said they plan to appeal.