AUSTIN, Texas — Students at the University of Texas at Austin are demanding that disciplinary action against student protesters be dropped.
On Friday afternoon, Austin Students for a Democratic Society questioned UT’s decision to suspend a student protester and punish 6 more for entering private offices in the university’s main building to demand a meeting with the University administration.
The conflict started in November of last year when students conducted a sit-in inside a private office in the University of Texas Tower. More than three months later they are asking the administration to reverse the punishments and drop the charges.
These students say the reprimands by UT Austin infringe on their right to free speech. Daniel Ramirez is facing suspension for the remainder of the semester. The other six students are receiving deferred suspensions. At Friday’s press conference, Ramirez said he will challenge the charges.
“They’re trying to get rid of us and we won’t back down,” said Ramirez.
At a December protest, Austin Students for a Democratic Society challenged UT’s investigation into whether they violated university policy. The students said their request for a meeting with the administration was peaceful and non-combative. The UT administration said the sit-in was aggressive, disruptive, and an unauthorized entry into private offices.
“We feel we have a right to protest on campus. We feel we have a right to go up to the Provost’s Office, that is public and ask for a meeting. We feel that when the university asked us to leave, we promptly left,” said Ramirez.
The investigation was on-going since November 7th when students tried to set up a meeting with university leadership. They wanted the university to reject the Trump administration’s Higher Education Compact and stop the consolidation of smaller liberal arts departments.
“Now consolidation went through and they’re placing charges on the people who were pushing back against that policy,” said UT student Alfredo Campos.
The University does not comment on individual student cases due to privacy laws.