The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, a nonprofit organization that defends constitutional rights of individuals, released a letter to Temple administrators on Aug. 15 admonishing Temple for taking disciplinary action against students for participating in the “Gaza Solidarity” encampment on the University of Pennsylvania’s campus in May.
ACLU PA will be advising the students throughout their disciplinary proceedings. Staff attorney Solomon F. Worlds has been assigned to the case.
The letter, addressed to Temple President Richard Englert and Dean of Students Rachel Stark, outlines the legal precedents taken by the Supreme Court and a case involving Temple from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
“The ACLU of Pennsylvania is concerned that the University’s decision to investigate and, possibly, discipline [student] and [student] will chill not only our clients’ free speech rights, but all Temple students’ ability and willingness to express themselves,” ACLU wrote in the statement.
The students, whose names were retracted from the release, were charged with defiant trespassing, but Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner dropped the charges. The ACLU is asking Temple to end its pursuit of disciplinary action following that decision.
The letter also writes that the university “had had no discernible impact” by the Temple student’s actions since they were done off-campus, and that the students did not violate Student Conduct Code because they did not “adversely affect the university community and/or the pursuit of its objectives.”
“It’s really kind of baffling as to why they would even pursue disciplinary charges,” Worlds said. “There’s no evidence to suggest that the Gaza solidarity encampment affected Temple University at all. There’s certainly nothing to suggest that the disbandment of the encampment, the actual incident that the two students are being disciplined for, did anything to Temple.”
At least one Temple student was arrested for trespassing on May 10 on UPenn’s campus. Between April 25 and May 10, students occupied a portion of the green space on campus to demand for divestments from pro-Israeli corporations and protections for Palestinian and pro-Palestinian students. The arrests occurred during the May 10 dismantlement of the encampment and the protest that followed a week later.
“The fact that they’re being disciplined by Temple University is unfair, and at least legally, importantly, it’s unconstitutional,” Worlds said. “Secondly, we wanted to ensure that students, faculty, and staff at Temple University knew that they do still have a First Amendment right to free speech, and that Temple’s actions are threatening to chill the speech of everyone who’s part of the community.”
Temple’s Division of Student Affairs did not respond to The Temple News’ request for comment.
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