by Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons
I write as a retired University of Florida Professor and a long time civil rights and peace and justice activist in support of the courageous UF students who joined with thousands of students across the U.S. (Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and non-religious) to protest Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and the ethnic cleansing and occupation of Palestinians in all of Palestine.
In a country which claims to uphold the right to free speech, free expression of views, the right to peacefully assemble and to protest wrongs, what has happened to the UF Students (known as the UF 9) and many across the U.S. shows that this is not the case.
Our UF 9 students and their supporters issued a statement titled: “Seeking Justice: The Repercussions of our Peaceful Protest Against Genocide.” I join with them in demanding justice for our students who have been expelled from UF’s campus for three years!
What is their crime?
These students were arrested in late April 2024 on UF’s campus for sitting peacefully in folding chairs with signs, flags, and playing the card game “Uno” while protesting the genocide in Gaza.
Our students had created what they termed, the “Liberation Zone” (LZ for short) as a space for a religiously and racially diverse community of students and others to openly grieve the horrors in Gaza they were witnessing daily and to call on our government to stop arming and funding it. The students joined in the prayers of the three religions, shared challah (a special bread in Jewish cuisine) and other foods donated by members of the greater Gainesville Community who grieved and prayed with them. I am grateful to have been one of the community members to grieve and pray with our students.
The students and all of us who joined them were under a constant menacing police presence. Hour after hour the police would approach the LZ with new, seemingly spontaneous arbitrary rules and restrictions. These unreasonable demands included getting rid of coolers, bottles of water, food, and tarps, no lying down, and no use of sound amplification.
It is important to know that UF’s “Plaza of the Americas” where the LZ was located has been designated “a free speech zone” on UF’s campus for decades. It is normal to see hammocks, chairs, tables, amplified sound devices, food, etc. on the Plaza.
Also, during football season this area and many other places on campus are used for tailgating with food, loud music and dancing into the wee hours of the morning. It was only when our students used this space to peacefully protest an ongoing live streamed Genocide in Gaza were these items and activities prohibited.
When the police arrested the students, some were sitting in folding chairs reading, studying for finals, resting, and eating their lunches. Twenty to 30 UFPD (University of Florida Police Department) and FHP (Florida Highway Patrol) officers marched on campus, surrounded the students, some with batons drawn, and began their arrests.
The UF 9 were taken to the county jail, where they were held until the next afternoon. They were charged with various crimes, including trespassing (UF Students on UF’s campus, TRESPASSING!), resisting arrest without violence, wearing masks in public (during Covid!) and one was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer.
All were trespassed from campus, and six were placed on interim suspension. Following “conduct hearings,” all students were suspended for three years by the Dean of Students, Chris Summerlin, despite conduct committees recommending less severe punishments.
The students appealed their suspensions. The Appeal Committees found that Dean Summerlin did not have the right to overrule the Hearing Committee’s findings that the students “were not responsible” for various violations they were accused of. Despite this, Summerlin has held to his excessively punitive three-year suspension.
Again, we must ask, WHY? WHAT ARE THEIR CRIMES?
We know all too well the answer! Their crime was to protest a genocide perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinian people living in Gaza.
UF is trampling these students’ constitutional rights to defend the settler-colonial apartheid state of Israel that is carrying out a live televised genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza.
We also must ask, who is really behind this outrageous punishment. Are there big money donors that UF is attempting to appease? Who are they? Why do they support genocide? Why does Dean Summerlin support genocide?
As a result of these unconstitutional violations of our students First Amendment Rights, they face financial turmoil after losing their student aid, losing their right to education, losing their housing, losing job opportunities, and being subjected to doxing and defamation campaigns.
In one case, a graduating senior was prevented from graduating or receiving her diploma for three years!
The students and we, their supporters, have not given up. We have a petition we want you, who are reading this, to sign calling on the State Attorney’s Office and UF to drop all charges against the students. You can visit our Instagram site: @UF9ForPalestine and sign it there.
The UF 9 are gravely in need of legal services and funds for legal aid. Please donate your time (if you are a lawyer) or funds to the UF 9 Legal Fund. Also, call Dean Chris Summerlin at (352)392-1261 or email him at Chris.summerl@ufl.edu and demand he drop these expulsions!
Our students need our Help! Several organizations are helping already, they include: current UF faculty, Retired UF faculty, Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine, many student organizations, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, and the ACLU.
We need additional Gainesville/Alachua County religious, civic, and social organizations to join us in this fight for free speech! Do not let our students down! Join us in the fight against suppression of free speech and our first amendment rights!
WE MUST KEEP UP THE PRESSURE AND NOT ALLOW THE STATE TO PUNISH STUDENTS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS FOR SPEAKING OUT AGAINST GENOCIDE, APARTHEID, AND COLONIALISM!
– Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, Ph.D.
Professor Emerita African American Religions & Islamic Studies,
University of Florida
For a student perspective on the UF 9 and their call to drop the charges, read “Drop the charges for the UF 9: Seeking justice: The Repercussions of our peaceful protest against genocide” by Parker Hovis and Keely Gliwa at: tinyurl.com/Iguana2091