Oregon State University
Oregon State University is penalizing student groups that helped organize a Pro-Palestinian encampment this spring.
Protesters occupied lawns on OSU’s Corvallis campus for nearly a month, while pressing the university to cut financial ties with Israel. The encampment disbanded in mid-June, weeks after the school's initial deadline.
Now, protesters report that the university has issued $1,000 fines to multiple members of their coalition: the Pro-Palestinian student group SUPER, OSU’s Young Democratic Socialists, and one individual student.
Additionally, protesters claim OSU has suspended SUPER for three years, and the Young Democratic Socialists for one year. That would make them unable to book campus meeting spaces, table at events, or seek university funding.
In an email to KLCC, OSU spokesperson Rob Odom didn’t confirm the specific details of the penalties. However, he said the students and student groups involved were being given due process.
University officials previously said the encampment violated its free expression and ground-use rules, and warned protesters that it would hold them accountable.
"We want to make it clear that it is entirely possible to vigorously exercise one's free expression rights without violating the university's broad free expression policies," Odom wrote.
Masha, a spokesperson for the Pro-Palestinian coalition, argued that the students' rights to speak and gather are being suppressed.
“We're simply fighting for a collaborative conversation with higher administration, and we've been continually denied that and then punished," said Masha, who declined to give their last name.
Additionally, Masha argued the university has singled out specific students, despite the encampment and SUPER having no official leaders. They also criticized OSU for giving a longer suspension to SUPER than to the Young Democratic Socialists, as they say the groups played similar roles in the encampment.
"It definitely feels targeted to the Palestinian identity base of the club," they said.
OSU's Odom said the university applies its campus policies evenly, regardless of a student group's viewpoint. He said OSU's uses an "educational and restorative sanctioning model."
Masha said protesters are appealing the disciplinary decisions.
The University of Oregon
This spring, the University of Oregon's main campus in Eugene also saw a weeks-long encampment by Pro-Palestinian protestors. Organizers reached a deal to disband in late May.
Now, 11 students are facing possible conduct code violations. Last week, dozens of people gathered on campus, calling on the university to drop the charges.
UO graduate student Carver Goldstein claimed some students are being punished for drawing in chalk outside an administrative building. He said others were identified by their public appearances at Board of Trustees meetings.
“I certainly think the university is afraid that there will be protests next year, and they're doing what they can now to essentially intimidate us into not protesting," said Goldstein.
In an email to KLCC, UO spokesperson Angela Seydel confirmed that five students were charged in a chalking incident. She also said students at Board of Trustees meetings chose to publicly identify themselves.
Seydel said nobody is being punished solely for being involved with the encampment, and some of the incidents occurred after the agreement to disband. She said charges include "Disruptive Behavior, Damage and/or Destruction, Unauthorized Access or Use, and Violation of University Policy."
However, Seydel said none of the students will face suspension, expulsion or marks on their transcripts. She said the agreement to disband will be a positive mitigating factor in this process.
