A faculty group at The University of Texas at Austin (UT–Austin) has called another protest for Thursday after it condemned the university president for enforcing school policy when hundreds of students walked out of class on Wednesday afternoon to occupy campus in protest of Israel’s strikes on Gaza.
“Today, our University held firm, enforcing our rules while protecting the Constitutional right to free speech,” UT–Austin President Jay Hartzell wrote in a campuswide statement Wednesday night.
“Peaceful protests within our rules are acceptable. Breaking our rules and policies and disrupting others’ ability to learn are not allowed. The group that led this protest stated it was going to violate Institutional Rules. Our rules matter, and they will be enforced. Our University will not be occupied,” Mr. Hartzell continued.
Faculty Hold Their Own Protest
The UT–Austin chapter of the American Association of University Professors denounced Mr. Hartzell for allowing law enforcement to be deployed to the campus where the Palestine Solidarity Committee held its protest against Israel.“We, faculty of UT Austin, condemn President Jay Hartzell and our administrative leaders’ decision to invite city police as well as state troopers from across the state—on horses, motorcycles, and bicycles, in riot gear and armed with batons, pepper spray, tear gas and guns to our campus today in response to a planned peaceful event by our students,” read the statement posted on X on Wednesday night.
The group also called on faculty members to cancel classes and gather in front of the university tower on Thursday shortly after noon.
“No business as usual tomorrow. No Classes. No grading. No work. No Assignments. Gather at the main mall in front of UT tower at 12:15 p.m. as planned with TSEU,” the statement continued.
The Texas State Employee Union (TSEU) announced on social media Thursday morning that it would postpone its own scheduled “Stop the Purge” rally in front of the tower—in “solidarity for those who were abruptly fired from positions formerly associated with DEI”—to allow the UT–Austin faculty to gather on Thursday.
The TSEU said it “cedes the space & time today at 12:15 on the West Mall to Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine to discuss the events yesterday,” in a post on X. “We do not condone the arrests & actions of State Troopers on our campus during a peaceful protest.”
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has called for the expulsion of students who participated in Wednesday’s protest.
“These protesters belong in jail,” he wrote on X after police were deployed on campus. “Antisemitism will not be tolerated in Texas. Period. Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in Texas should be expelled.”
The protest at UT–Austin comes as anti-Semitic incidents have increased at numerous colleges and universities across the nation, including Columbia University, Harvard University, New York University, Rutgers University, and Yale University, among others.
More than 100 people were arrested at Columbia University recently, where protesters have set up tents occupying the campus. School administrators canceled in-person classes due to fear for Jewish students’ safety.
Dozens of Arrests
At UT–Austin, state troopers and other law enforcement officers arrested dozens on Wednesday as chaos broke out across campus, as seen in videos shared across the internet and social media.The pro-Palestinian participants, wearing masks to allegedly help hide their identities, refused to disperse despite the school’s announcement that the event was prohibited and law enforcement’s orders to leave or face arrest.
“UT Austin does not tolerate disruptions of campus activities or operations like we have seen at other campuses,” a spokesperson for the university’s division of student affairs said in a statement issued early Wednesday. “This is an important time in our semester with students finishing classes and studying for finals, and we will act first and foremost to allow those critical functions to proceed without interruption.”
The protesters demanded that the university divest from Israel and reject Mr. Abbott’s executive order aimed at addressing anti-Semitism at colleges and universities across the state.
“Antisemitism is never acceptable in Texas, and we will do everything we can to fight it,” said Mr. Abbott. “The State of Texas stands with Israel and the Jewish community, and we must escalate our efforts to protect against antisemitism at Texas colleges and universities and across our state.”
A public information officer confirmed to The Epoch Times that the Travis County Sheriff’s Office booked 57 people into jail as a result of the university protest.
The police spokesperson said all of those arrested had been issued dispositions, and an undisclosed number had been released as of Thursday morning.
