Punishments come after criminal charges were dropped.
While some anti-Israel protesters are still facing criminal charges relating to their direct actions, many on college campuses have gotten the charges against them dropped.
Protesters who were arrested during the camp sweep at New York University are escaping legal action, but the school is requiring the students to do reflection papers and finish "integrity" modules. NYU's actions toward the students have angered the far left.
NYU Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine released a statement criticizing NYU for still "punishing" the students through "Orwellian" means.
"In addition to being declared Persona Non Grata at NYU – a status that bars students from campus and from all University-related activities – some arrested students are being compelled to write 5-6 page 'reflection papers' and others to complete dozens of writing assignments described in a 49-page 'Ethos Integrity Series Modules' document. In both cases, assignments must be submitted to the Office of Student Conduct by May 29," NYU FSJP said.
“Since they can’t write anything justifying their action, students seem to be banned from writing about personal values that might be relevant here, such as a belief in freedom of expression, the responsibility to oppose genocide, or the duty of nonviolent civil disobedience under certain circumstances. This seems rather ironic in an essay on integrity," said FSJP member Sara Pursley.
“You can’t make this stuff up. The hypocrisy of making student activists who are opposing a genocide, and demanding financial disclosure and divestment, complete assignments on ‘values,’ created by a company guilty of federal crimes, for a University happy to outsource its punitive mechanisms, not to mention its writing assignments, to a private company, just boggles the mind," FSJP member Anna McCarthy added.
But it's not just NYU that is taking a light-handed approach to protesters.
At Princeton University, President Christopher Eisgruber announced the college will offer students who were arrested at the encampment a "restorative justice" path so they can "rapidly conclude the University disciplinary process, making it possible for the students to join Commencement."
After Princeton's encampment was cleared, a few students went on a hunger strike. After ten days, the original 13 stopped due to health concerns while seven new protesters took their place.