The nine students arrested at UTD’s May 1 “Gaza Liberation Plaza” encampment face academic and post-graduate challenges as UTD pursues denial of degree, deferred suspension procedures and academic and disciplinary hearings, which endanger the academic careers of the arrested students. 

On Aug. 6, three months after the arrests, UTD’s Students for Justice in Palestine and the DFW branch of the Palestinian Youth Movement organized a press conference to discuss the status of the “UTD 21” arrestees. Arrested students who graduated in spring 2024 are facing degree denials while the arrested students returning for fall 2024 face the possibility of deferred suspension. The conference included Dan Sullivan, an attorney representing the “UTD 21;” Imam Omar Suleiman, president of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research; and some of the UTD students arrested May 1 as its key speakers.  

“These students chose to take a stand because some of the tens of thousands of casualties in Gaza are their relatives, people they know and ultimately human beings,” Suleiman said. “All they did was usher in the spirit of truth and justice under the dark cloud of a genocide which unfortunately this university [UTD] is complicit in.” 

A spokesperson for UTD said in a statement to The Mercury that UTD cannot comment on the specifics of student or faculty disciplinary meetings. In a July 17 Academic Senate meeting, Rafael Martín, vice president and chief of staff, said that the disciplinary hearings conducted by the Office of Community Standards and Conduct are considered confidential and only shared with third parties when legally required. The spokesperson said encampments – including tents, barricades and other structures – are not permitted as part of UTD’s Speech Expression and Assembly policy UTDSP5001. 

“Individuals who participated in the May 1 encampment at UTD were not arrested for protesting,” the UTD spokesperson said. “They were arrested for criminal trespass after failing to comply with requests that they remove the barricaded encampment erected in the pre-dawn hours of May 1.” 

Three of the nine arrested students agreed to speak with The Mercury. UTD alum and former president of SJP Mousa Najjar said that while UTD had mailed him a physical copy of his diploma, representatives of the university told him during his academic hearing that if any programs, employers or third parties asked about his degree status, the university would respond that he did not have one until at least December 2024.  

The Mercury has granted anonymity to the two other students because they will be enrolled at UTD during the fall semester and are currently facing ongoing disciplinary hearings, conducted by OCSC under Dean of Students Amanda Smith, and criminal trespass charges. The anonymous students both said they were facing deferred suspension, which they said would result in immediate suspension if the university found them to be in violation of any UTD or UT System policy.  

During the press conference, Suleiman said that as every university in Gaza has been bombed, universities such as UTD have failed to reject the genocidal actions which target their peer institutions. On Jan. 24, Al Jazeera reported that all of Gaza’s universities had been damaged or destroyed by the Israeli military. United Nations experts reported a “deep concern” over the destruction and damage of over 80% of all schools in Gaza as of April 18. 

“What we have noticed in the last ten months is a complete abdication of responsibility of those very same institutions that used to stand up and condemn hate,” Suleiman said. “They have abdicated their moral responsibility to condemn a genocide that is being televised live on social media.” 

Sullivan, a member of the National Lawyers Guild, the oldest progressive bar association in the U.S., said that the guild is representing all of the “UTD 21” for both the criminal and student disciplinary cases. Sullivan said that the 21 peaceful protesters arrested at UTD were met with state troopers who have been deployed across the state to suppress supporters of Palestine.  

“The arrest of the UTD 21 is part of a campaign of aggression,” Sullivan said. “Many of these arrests have already been found to be illegal by courts. We, of course, know the situation in Austin where dozens of those arrested immediately had their charges dropped by a magistrate, because the magistrate found no probable cause to make an arrest.” 

UTD’s student population largely supports pro-Palestine activism. Since 2023, SJP’s focus has been on pressuring UTD to divest from five major weapons manufacturers, resulting in a successful Student Government resolution calling on UTD to divest. According to the Texas Jewish Post, UTD President Richard Benson said in response  to the resolution that “UTD leadership does not share the same view as the student senate.” Sullivan said that it is their “commitment to human rights” and divestment which brought the “UTD 21” into the ire of the police, the courts and the university.  

“It is a very dangerous attack against free speech in the United States,” Sullivan said. “I want to emphasize that the people arrested are ordinary students, faculty and community members. These people are only set apart from their community because of their commitment to human rights.” 

Sullivan said the criminal charges being pursued against the “UTD 21” are simple criminal trespass charges, which could be dropped if the complaining witness, UTD, withdrew its complaint. Sullivan said that if UTD did not want to prosecute its own students and faculty, then it could easily make the cases go away, and that UTD has even more control over the disciplinary process because it is entirely conducted by the university itself.  

A spokesperson for OCSC said the Dean of Students holds the primary authority and responsibility for administering student discipline and that Smith appointed OCSC to adjudicate cases of student disciplinary action. The spokesperson said general information about the procedures of disciplinary hearings could be found in UTD policy UTDSP5003. Smith did not respond to The Mercury when contacted for comment.  

“Any attempt to minimize or brush aside the actions of UTD and to act as though this is simply normal action is simple misdirection,” Sullivan said.