UPDATED: This piece was updated on April 6 at 1:17 p.m. CDT to include information and comments shared publicly on X by one of the expelled students.
Three students have been expelled, one suspended and 22 issued disciplinary probations following a week of preliminary hearings involving the 27 students suspended for their involvement in a sit-in protest at Kirkland Hall, according to the Vanderbilt Divest Coalition. In an April 5 email to the Vanderbilt community, Provost C. Cybele Raver shared that students have 10 days to appeal their cases, during which they are permitted access to campus and university resources.
In an open letter to Chancellor Daniel Diermeier, Raver, the Office of General Counsel and Faculty Senate President Andrea Capizzi, faculty members criticized actions taken by the administration throughout the month of March, including the distribution of interim suspensions to student protesters. As of publication, the letter has been signed by 154 professors.
Vanderbilt Law School Associate Professor Terry Maroney, one of the letter’s signees, condemned what she said she and several faculty view as the university’s “overly punitive” disciplinary response.
“Some of us participated in similar sit-ins in our own day; they form part of the protest lexicon. And while such civil disobedience carries consequences, the consequences our administrators have chosen — including expulsion and criminal charges — are draconian,” Maroney said. “We call on the Chancellor to change course.”
Accountability process outcomes
Preliminary hearings began on March 28 and continued through this week. Raver’s email cited the goal of the university’s student conduct policies as ensuring student safety and opportunity for success.
“After a thorough review of the incident, including examination of evidence and interviews with students, the Student Accountability, Community Standards and Academic Integrity staff issued a range of findings and sanctions that took the individual circumstances of each student’s conduct into account,” the email reads.
The university declined to share the specific number of students issued probations, suspensions and expulsions, citing federal privacy laws. However, a joint Instagram post by the Vanderbilt Divest Coalition and Columbia University’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter made this information publicly available.
“Student disciplinary outcomes are considered part of an individual student’s educational record, the contents of which are protected by federal privacy laws. We cannot release information that would make a student, or group of students, identifiable,” a university representative told The Hustler.
VDC’s post shared that all students issued disciplinary action are filing appeals for their cases. During the 10-day appeal window, students will be able to return to classes and access support for “mental health, academic progress and welfare.”
“All students are going through the appeal process to rectify these grossly oppressive decisions from administration,” the post reads.
First-year Jack Petocz, one of the students issued an expulsion, took to X to condemn the severity of the university’s response.
“Vanderbilt will let sexual assaulters walk free but expel passionate organizers,” Petocz tweeted. “I came to Vanderbilt with the dream of escaping the rampant bigotry and institutional repression I experienced in the Deep South. That dream has soured.”
The coalition has also coordinated a campus-wide walkout for April 8 at 12 p.m. CDT, beginning at Library Lawn. In their post, they criticized Chancellor Daniel Diermeier for being “notoriously cruel to student protestors,” citing his past writings on countering social activism and managing corporate reputations.
Raver thanked the Vanderbilt community for coming together to advance the university’s “educative mission” amid “difficult circumstances.”
“The gravity of this situation and these outcomes weighs heavily on those of us charged with carrying out our responsibility as leaders; we fully understand that student choices and decisions can lead to serious and costly consequences,” her email reads.
Faculty open letter
In the open letter, faculty members said they have been “deeply troubled” by the university’s actions over the past two weeks in response to student protests surrounding the administration’s cancellation of the referendum for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions amendment proposed to VSG. The letter was publicly signed by 105 faculty members, with an additional 49 who chose to remain anonymous.
“We hold a range of perspectives on this topic and on the BDS campaign at the heart of the recent protests,” the letter reads. “However, in our shared view, the administration’s response to student activism on this issue is inconsistent with Vanderbilt’s commitment to free speech and expression in a democratic society.”
The faculty expressed concern for the “suppression of student activism and speech” on campus, saying that the university has restricted student actions in ways that are “excessive and punitive.”
“The administration has confined student expression to a dwindling number of bulletin boards, locations and approved time slots, with implications that should alarm the Vanderbilt community,” the letter reads.
The letter also acknowledges the correspondence sent to Diermeier by the Metropolitan Council of Nashville, as well as the arrest of Nashville Scene reporter Eli Motycka.
“We are troubled that the administration’s suppression of student speech on campus and its treatment of a peaceful journalist have threatened Vanderbilt’s standing and reputation within the broader Nashville community and possibly beyond,” the letter reads.
The faculty members expressed support for students involved in the protests over the past month, condemning the university’s “implied characterization” of the protests as a threat to safety.
“We call on the administration to repeal all suspensions and criminal charges against the students and immediately reinstate their access to campus housing, meal plans, healthcare, and educational activities,” the letter reads. “Finally, we urge the administration to align its policies with its values regarding free speech, expression, and democratic activities, including protest.”
Assistant Professor of Anthropology Carwil Bjork-James expressed disappointment with the way the university responded to the protestors who participated in the sit-in, saying he believes leaders in a democracy should be open to disagreements.
“Chancellor Diermeier met our students not with dialogue but with security guards. And now the university has responded to a time-honored protest tactic, the sit-in, with punishment and expulsion,” Bjork-James said. “Our students stood up during a moral crisis, and we are failing them.”
