Maryam Alwan figured the worst was over after New York City police in riot gear arrested her and other protesters on the Columbia University campus, loaded them onto buses and held them in custody for hours.
But the next evening, the college junior received an email from the university. Alwan and other students were being suspended after their arrests at the “ Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” a tactic colleges across the country have deployed to calm growing campus protests against the Israel-Hamas war.
The students’ plight has become a central part of protests, with students and a growing number of faculty demanding their amnesty. At issue is whether universities and law enforcement will clear the charges and withhold other consequences, or whether the suspensions and legal records will follow students into their adult lives.
You yourself cited the requirement to be expression neutral. And I have provided links showing they weren’t and that multiple student groups are suing because of it.
Are the students expected to just sit back and stay silent when the university doesn’t allow them to express themselves on equal terms?
That’s literally what protests are for, and also literally why charges were withdrawn against a whole bunch of students in at least one case, because it wasn’t a “clear case of trespassing” when the students protested peacefully.
At least one police department has already figured it out
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/04/26/dc-police-george-washington-university-protests/