Updated: April 27, 2024, at 1:27 p.m.
Student protesters said at their rally Friday that officials suspended seven students from GW immediately.
“The administration announced readily to seven students that they are suspended, effective immediately,” said a speaker at Friday’s rally. “They each have nine counts of misconduct.”
“Is this what safety looks like?” the speaker asked more than 300 gathered demonstrators. “No,” the crowd shouted back.
An Instagram post by the Student Coalition for Palestine at GWU Friday evening stated officials suspended the seven student organizers and charged each with nine disciplinary violations. The post said the students actively face eviction from their campus housing.
“Administrators are actively working to punish students for speaking up against the oppression of Palestinians,” the post reads. “We demand GW admin drops all the charges and unsuspends all students immediately.”
A post on the Student Coalition for Palestine at GWU’s Instagram Friday said officials told students participating in the protest would put them at risk of facing interim suspension unless they cleared the encampment by 1 p.m. The post said student demonstrators would risk losing their housing, credits for the semester and being arrested.
A University spokesperson said Saturday that officials cannot confirm or comment on the existence or status of individual student conduct cases and legal action against students.
The Code of Student Conduct states that the Dean of Students and Vice Provost for Student Affairs Colette Coleman is in charge of determining temporary suspensions, which the spokesperson said occurs under “specific circumstances.”
The University spokesperson said Saturday that students under temporary suspensions, which typically last up to 21 days, lose access to housing and other campus facilities, and coursework during the suspension is “generally prohibited.”
The spokesperson said students under “non-temporary” suspensions, which typically last at least one semester, will not receive credit or refunds for courses taken during the semester of their infraction but may receive “educational and restorative” sanctions. The spokesperson added that Coleman and Provost Chris Bracey are required to agree on the determination on non-temporary suspensions.
The University issued a statement Friday afternoon that officials had informed demonstrators their occupation and conduct in U-Yard “have been and continue to be” in violation of University policies. They said the encampment’s presence in U-Yard is considered trespassing.
About 40 students left the encampment throughout the day Friday, and will likely face no punishment for the demonstration. About a dozen students remain in the encampment Friday evening, many of whom are likely part of the seven students suspended.
Student protesters in the encampment did not immediately comment for this story.
This post was updated to include a statement from a University spokesperson.
