A professor and two students filed a lawsuit Monday against the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) after being banned from campus following their involvement in a pro-Palestinian protest in May.
The lawsuit alleges the university took “extreme” measures and illegally banned over 110 students and faculty for two weeks over their participation in a May 30 pro-Palestinian protest where demonstrators created barricades and blocked the campus’s main entrance, according to a statement from the university. Over 100 arrests were made and participants were banned on the spot without an opportunity to contest, and with some not even receiving verbal or written notice, according to the lawsuit.
“Defendants did not first provide notice or an opportunity to be heard as required by law, and they made no individualized findings to justify such an extreme, punitive measure,” the lawsuit states. “The impact of being instantaneously banished from campus was devastating. Individuals lost access to housing, jobs, classes, school resources, healthcare, and other campus services.”
One of the students represented in the lawsuit, Laaila Irshad, who is majoring in critical race and ethnic studies and environmental studies according to the lawsuit, said the ban was “devastating” and that she fears retaliation, according to a statement from the American Civil Liberties Union, who represent the plaintiffs.
“I was a Resident Assistant living and working in campus housing so the ban was devastating,” Irshad said. “I failed my school courses as I could not access my computer, attend classes, or complete assignments.”
“I fear that the school will continue to target and punish me because of my student activism,” she continued. “The possibility of these bans affecting my employment and future looms large. I have considered taking a gap year due to my distrust in the institution and the fear of retaliation.”
U.C. Santa Cruz workers who are union members of U.A.W. 4811, which is part of the United Auto Workers, and pro-Palestinian protesters carry signs as they demonstrate in front of the U.C. Santa Cruz campus on May 20, 2024, in Santa Cruz, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Christine Hong, a tenured professor of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies and Literature and director of the UCSC Center for Racial Justice, claims the officers that dispersed the event used extreme force against protesters.
“The officers forced us together so tightly that some of us were dry heaving from batons being thrust violently into our abdomens,” Hong said. “Officers in full riot gear grabbed people by the neck. Some people were later hospitalized.”
The plaintiffs are requesting an injunction to prevent the university from issuing bans in the future without first allowing a hearing and for the plaintiffs’ bans to be declared unlawful. (RELATED: ‘Lacks Basic Moral Judgement’: Elite University Trustee Steps Down Over Vote On Israel Divestment)
The university claimed the protesters posed a risk to the campus and that their removal was necessary in a May 31 statement released after the demonstrators were cleared.
“Unfortunately, the disruptions we experienced these weeks were harmful to others in our community,” UCSC Chancellor Cynthia Larive said. “This decision [to remove the protesters] was not made because individuals demonstrated; it was because they have chosen to do so through unlawful actions.”
“It’s time to hold UCSC accountable for its illegal use of Section 626.4 campus bans against students and faculty as a tool of censorship,” attorney Thomas Seabaugh said. “Our clients did not engage in conduct that posed a threat of significant injury to anyone or anything. Banning them on the spot was not just heavy-handed, it was unconstitutional and a violation of basic democratic rights and academic freedoms. We’re suing to ensure that in the coming school year, UCSC officials comply with the law and respect the constitutional limits on their power to ban students and faculty from campus.”
Universities have faced a swath of lawsuits relating to incidents on campus following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Several Harvard students sued the university in January for allegedly allowing antisemitism that resulted in some students being mobbed, while the University of California Los Angeles was sued in June for allowing a “Jew Exclusion Zone.”
UCSC and the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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