Colin Flanders ©️ Seven Days
The encampment
A lawsuit filed on Monday challenges the University of Vermont’s decision to sanction a pro-Palestinian student group that played a key role in this spring’s encampment protest.
The university has accused UVM Students for Justice in Palestine of violating campus policies during the
10-day demonstration, which grew to include more than 90 tents before disbanding on May 8.
On May 3, UVM placed the group on interim suspension — a status that prevents it from speaking, organizing or recruiting on campus — until a formal investigation can be conducted.
But the university had yet to begin that investigation as of last month, the lawsuit claims, and has denied the group’s requests to meet about the suspension in the meantime. That's left the group no avenue to contest the charges, according to a complaint filed in federal court by Burlington attorney John Franco.
The university has "chosen to weaponize procedural permitting issues and the student misconduct process to bully and intimidate UVMSJP and other students, chilling the exercise of their protected First Amendment rights,"
Franco wrote.
The lawsuit asks for the interim suspension to be rescinded while a judge decides whether the university can legally sanction the group.
The lawsuit names as codefendants two UVM student life administrators: director Lina Balcom and associate director Jerome Budomo. A university spokesperson declined to comment.
Among the allegations levied against UVM Students for Justice in Palestine are that the group erected temporary structures without approval and encouraged other students to violate campus policies.
The group, which denies the charges, says the university has not punished any other student groups involved in large-scale protests over the years. They include protesters who spoke up over racial injustice, climate issues and the university’s
handling of sexual assault allegations on campus. Students have at times blocked traffic on Main Street.
The university does not appear to have sanctioned any other student groups involved in this year's encampment, either.
The singling out of UVM Students for Justice in Palestine continues a pattern of bias against pro-Palestinian causes, the lawsuit alleges. It points to the college’s decision to
cancel a lecture by a Palestinian writer last year over vague safety concerns. Emails later
provided to Seven Days showed no threats were made.