Over 50 students protested at 4 p.m. CDT today outside Kirkland Hall in support of the 27 Vanderbilt Divest Coalition members suspended as a result of their nearly 22-hour sit-in in Kirkland Hall. The protesters called for the students’ suspensions to be “dropped immediately” and for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions referendum to be reinstated to the VSG ballot.
The protest took place in a zone that prohibits protests and demonstrations, per university guidelines.
Some of the suspended students discussed their overnight experiences inside Kirkland Hall Their suspensions went into effect at 5 p.m. CDT today. Per university policy, suspended students are prohibited from being on campus property until the conclusion of their Student Accountability process. Individual Student Accountability hearings begin tomorrow.
“Currently, there are 27 students facing suspension on this university campus — being told that they are trespassers on a university that they paid to be at, a university that they are proud to be at because of the student body and a university that they are in fact advocating for,” a VDC organizer — who is being kept anonymous for protection from professional retribution — said at the protest.
First-year Jack Petocz, who was among the four students arrested, said his conditions at the Downtown Detention Center were better than those during the sit-in.
“I had access to water. I had access to a bathroom. I had access to my friends and the ability to rest. How dare this university deprive us of basic humanity? How dare a top 20 university in this country have more inhumane conditions than that of a jail? It’s disgusting,” Petocz said.
Another VDC organizer spoke on the motivation behind the Kirkland sit-in, explaining that protesters landed on the option only after all other routes to speak with administration failed. They further criticized the university’s response to and treatment of those who participated in the sit-in. The student is being kept anonymous for protection from professional retribution.
“This is what free speech looks like and, on a campus that claims to prioritize such, they [the university] should be protecting protesters who peacefully protested, rather than punishing them and taking away their ability to even have basic humanity for 21 hours,” the organizer said.
The organizer left a message of encouragement for students who remain on campus.
“This is our campus that we have a right to be on and to speak on,” the organizer said. “So we need all of you to continue to stay out here. We need all of you to continue to put pressure on them. We need all of you to combat misinformation that has been purposefully spread while we continue to fight as we can.”
Nacho • Mar 30, 2024 at 9:30 am CDT
Some basic math:
– 27 were suspended
– 50 showed up to protest the suspensions, including those who were suspended
– So, each suspended kid brought a friend, except for a few who apparently don’t have any.
– The other 99% of the student body didn’t agree or care.
Killer Marmot • Mar 28, 2024 at 9:53 pm CDT
These students thought their rights superceded other people’s rights. By suspending them, the administration sent exactly the right message: “Protest if you want, but do not interfere with other people’s education.”
Marcos Guidanro • Mar 28, 2024 at 9:07 pm CDT
The palestiains just like these folks that broke the rules at school– through heir leaders have pretty much alienated the Arab World.
Jordan- nearly 25,000 died when the PLO tried to over throw the government of Jordan
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia – expelled over 350,000 Palestinians after Arafat’s support of Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait – not to be readmitted
Lebanon – It was the PLO’s activities after they arrived in that country that resulted in a war with Israel and a civil war that resulted in Syria’s intervention
Then there is the Palestinians current open support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
The Palestinians have been provided with an autonomous territory in which they make the rules and determine the policies and living conditions, and the Arab world sees the opportunity to build a civil society – even with billions in foreign aid – squandered.
Arab nations resent that they are expected to subordinate their own national interests to the Palestinian narrative/cause. And as you can see The Gulf States, Sudan, Morocco, Jordan, Egypt have moved on. The Palestinian response, after these nation loyally supported them for years is to call them traitors.
User • Mar 30, 2024 at 6:54 am CDT
I want to see your reaction, when someone will take your property and give you piece of it as autonomous teritory ))
And start killing your family members when you want to take it back…
authentic observer • Mar 28, 2024 at 7:57 am CDT
They broke the rules, knowing they were doing so and there would be consequences, and yet cry as if they are victims. The anti-Israel zealots are the biggest crybullies I have ever seen on college campuses.
Mike • Mar 28, 2024 at 12:30 am CDT
I would hardly call this a rally or a protest. Most of the people there were just passing by and listening in. About 25% of the crowd were the students who got arrested and photographers, looking to report about the incident. They had a microphone and were angry about their decisions to occupy a building and essentially assault the innocent unknown staff member with collective force. The students shouldn’t have been allowed back on campus. Their unreasonable actions demonstrate vulnerability of classically liberal values and foreshadow a similar totalitarian spirit to that of the Marxist revolutionaries of the 20th century.