Some UNC professors pledge to hold grades hostage to show solidarity with pro-Hamas demonstrators

Some professors and instructors at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have promised to withhold student grades this semester until the administration yields to their demands regarding some unruly pro-Hamas demonstrators.

That [American] flag will stand there as long as I’m chancellor."

On April 30, a pro-Palestinian demonstration called the Triangle Gaza Solidarity Encampment on an area of campus known as Polk Place got quite out of hand. Demonstrators, led by UNC Students for Justice in Palestine, tussled with patriotic counter-protesters as well as police, who came to break up the protest and to restore an American flag to a flagpole that was flying a Palestinian flag instead, as Blaze News previously reported.

"That [American] flag will stand there as long as I’m chancellor," said interim Chancellor Lee Roberts.

In all, 36 individuals, including 10 UNC students, may face legal consequences as a result of the wayward demonstration. The vast majority of these individuals were detained on campus temporarily, issued citations for misdemeanor trespassing, and released. However, six individuals — three of whom are students — were arrested and assessed additional misdemeanor charges such as delaying or obstructing an officer or resisting, the News & Observer reported.

In addition to possible legal consequences, some student demonstrators have also been held to account by the university. According to UNC Students for Justice in Palestine, at least 12 students have been suspended from class and cannot return to campus for two years. School officials confirmed that several students have been "disciplined" but did not elaborate about the nature of that discipline.

Not satisfied that students were able to take over a significant portion of campus property, trespass in campus buildings overnight, and otherwise disrupt campus order, several UNC faculty members and other instructors of record have decided that until the university eases the disciplinary measures against these student agitators, they will not submit semester grades — as is "required ... of all faculty and graduate TAs," UNC Graduate School Dean Beth Mayer-Davis said.

On Monday afternoon, about two dozen such professors and instructors gathered for a small demonstration at the Peace and Justice Plaza elsewhere in Chapel Hill. Some were carrying pro-Palestinian banners and signs; others were wearing masks. All seemed intransigent.

"We, as Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine, stand shoulder to shoulder with our students and demand that all suspensions be dropped against them," cried Hồng-Ân Trương, the director of graduate studies for studio art and a professor of art history.

"The violence exerted against our students by interim Chancellor Roberts last Tuesday is the real harm here, not this withholding of grades!"

Michael Palm — an associate communications professor who identifies as Jewish and is a representative of UNC Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine — added: "The matter of grades is an inconvenience compared to the violence that UNC administrators have invited onto our campus."

"This administration can and will heed our demands."

A message reportedly from a UNC professor that likewise promises to withhold grades has been shared widely on social media. In the message, the professor insisted that withholding grades for now will "have no impact on [students'] GPA." "I would not do anything that puts your wellbeing or academic careers at risk," the professor assured his or her students, some of whom reported the professor to the administration.

"Once the administration meets our demands, the grades you earned will be recorded," the professor added, though the word "our" in this context does not seem to encompass the students the professor was addressing but rather a radical contingent of the UNC faculty.

Such confidence in the administration's pending acquiescence was shared by some students as well. A form letter created by UNC Students for Justice in Palestine to encourage faculty and instructors to participate in the grade-reporting strike makes a similar statement.

"Our utmost concern is full amnesty for our peers and we operate in the resolute belief that it will be achieved," the form letter says. "The sole decision-makers of these suspensions are this administration, and this administration can and will heed our demands."

Provost Chris Clemens and UNC Graduate School Dean Beth Mayer-Davis sent a message of their own on Monday, promising to "support sanctions for any instructor who is found to have improperly withheld grades."

"We strongly support the right of faculty and graduate students to express their opinions freely but there are better ways to do this than hurting our students and abrogating our contract with the people of North Carolina who support our university," Clemens and Mayer-Davis wrote.

"[It] is our hope we can resolve this matter amicably and without harm to students."

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