UVa refuses to award diplomas to students who took part in pro-Palestinian protest

A total of 11 students are on probation pending a hearing before the University Judicial Commission, a student-run body that rules on alleged violations of the university’s standards of conduct. Violations of those rules could include withholding degrees from students who are set to graduate this spring, as well as suspending or expelling students who are still enrolled at UVa.

The fate of the students — who were part of a camp protesting Israel’s war with Hamas that was broken up by Virginia state police on May 4 — will not be known until the fall. The committee has so far rejected requests to speed up their trials.

For the four students who were supposed to graduate but now don’t have a degree, finding a job has become difficult in a job market where employers often require a bachelor’s degree.

“This is an empty punishment because I did everything I could to fulfill my degree,” Cady de la Cruz, a first-generation college student who was denied her degree, told The Daily Progress in an email. “UVA delayed the process just to make an example out of me.”

Cases are referred to the University Judiciary Committee only after a complaint is filed by someone in the UVa community. In this case, the complaints were filed by Donovan Golich and Elizabeth Ortiz, both employees of UVa’s Division of Student Affairs. The students will not face legal action, and their grades will not be withheld if Ortiz and Golich withdraw their complaints.

On June 13, dozens of faculty members appealed to university authorities to do just that.

“UVA’s decision to refer these matters to the UJC constitutes an inappropriate abuse of student government policies to retaliate violently against students who are exercising their First Amendment rights and demanding that the institution respond to an ongoing genocide,” reads the letter to UVA President Jim Ryan and other members of his administration.

The authors of the letter argue that because the Office of Student Affairs “directly supervises UJC students,” these students feel compelled to take the matter to court.

Both UVa and the leadership of the University Judiciary Committee deny these claims.

“The associate vice president for student affairs serves as an advisor to the UJC but cannot direct any actions or decisions of the committee,” UVa spokesman Brian Coy told The Daily Progress. “The claim that following the standard process under UVA’s student government system is somehow retaliatory is not supported by any evidence.”

Harper Jones, chairman of the judiciary committee, says the student organization operates independently of the Department of Student Affairs.

“Claims that Student Affairs pressured UJC under any circumstances are unfounded and undermine UJC’s status as an independent, student-run organization,” Jones told The Daily Progress in an email.

According to a report by the University Judiciary Committee, the committee decided 24 cases this spring. Eighty-three percent of the complaints received were filed by Student Affairs.

The same report states that the commission “will continue to maintain the highest possible standards while striving to process cases efficiently and expeditiously.”

However, there remain unresolved questions about the effectiveness of the University Judicial Committee in handling the 11 cases related to the May 4 protest, as each student must wait until the fall semester to appear in court and learn their fate.

At least one of those students received an email from Harper in May. The chair wrote that the committee would hear their case “as soon as possible.” Jones later wrote that the hearing would not be held until the fall.

“I understand this may be frustrating, and I want to emphasize that this decision was not made lightly. Our goal is to provide each student with sufficient time and resources to prepare for the committee’s review of their case, and we do not believe that is possible this late in the semester,” Jones wrote, adding that the student will be assigned an attorney to represent him “as soon as possible.”

But according to the student, whose name The Daily Progress is not disclosing because it could affect their trial, no defense attorney has been assigned yet. While the University Judiciary Committee has said the trials will not take place until the fall so that defendants have enough time to prepare, the student said it is difficult to prepare without a defense attorney.

“Who do I speak to about these allegations and the UJC process?” the student asked The Daily Progress. “The UJC’s line that ‘the trials will not take place until the fall so that students have ample time to prepare’ is another lie designed to cover up the fact that this sham trial is solely intended to intimidate and punish students for demanding that UVA, our university, divest from institutions that profit from genocide, apartheid and occupation that destroys Palestinian communities and lives.”

Students arrested during the protest were charged with trespassing. However, the court dismissed charges against many of them and plans to dismiss charges against the remaining students in August. In addition, although the accused students originally received no-entry orders from UVa, those orders were lifted or modified after UVa determined that the students did not pose a safety risk.

The accused students also noted that there were counter-protesters in the crowd on May 4 who cheered on the police and celebrated their use of pepper spray against students, faculty and members of the public.

“We have numerous reports of counterprotesters making racist remarks, cheering violence, and even encouraging police to use chemical weapons against us,” one student wrote to Student Affairs. “Doesn’t this violate UVA’s Code of Conduct?”

None of this has prompted the Office of Student Affairs to withdraw the complaints.

Instead, the trial hangs over the heads of the defendants, some of whom have already been evicted from their on-campus accommodation, lost their jobs and are barred from seeking new employment or attending postgraduate studies.

“This is disrupting our work, our lives, and our sanity because we were present at a pro-Palestinian protest,” said an anonymous student protester. “This protracted disciplinary process only further harms students and reinforces UVA’s ‘punish and lie’ mentality when it comes to protesting for a free Palestine.”

Jones said that while the UJC has decided to accept the cases, that decision does not mean the defendants are guilty. Guilt, she said, must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. She also added that the committee traditionally operates only during the fall and spring semesters; if a complaint is filed on the last day of the spring semester, it is common practice to hold the proceedings until the fall semester begins.

“That said, the Committee has previously made exceptions when certain circumstances create an urgent need for an expedited trial. This decision is made on an individual basis and takes into account a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the degree status of the accused students, the availability of UJC support staff, and other details regarding scheduling, case processing, and staffing,” Jones wrote.

Jones also wrote that it is common practice to withhold diplomas from graduates if the matter is filed three weeks before the final exam.

“The withholding of diplomas is done regardless of the circumstances and is intended to ensure that the accused person does not complete their studies before their case is heard at UJC,” she said.