College protesters want 'amnesty.' At stake: Tuition, legal charges, grades and graduation [View all]

Maryam Alwan figured the worst was over after New York City police in riot gear arrested her and other protesters on the Columbia University campus, loaded them onto buses and held them in custody for hours.

But the next evening, the college junior received an email from the university. Alwan and other students were being suspended after their arrests at the “ Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” a tactic colleges across the country have deployed to calm growing campus protests against the Israel-Hamas war.

The students’ plight has become a central part of protests, with students and a growing number of faculty demanding their amnesty. At issue is whether universities and law enforcement will clear the charges and withhold other consequences, or whether the suspensions and legal records will follow students into their adult lives.

Terms of the suspensions vary from campus to campus. At Columbia and its affiliated Barnard College for women, Alwan and dozens more were arrested April 18 and promptly barred from campus and classes, unable to attend in-person or virtually, and banned from dining halls.

https://apnews.com/article/student-protest-gaza-war-arrest-amnesty-ae235703d6a9b99114078fca13a530a0

I'd say it depends on what the suspended person did. Threats of physical violence, especially when things are heated, should never be tolerated. Kind of like the idiot below.

Columbia University Enforces Campus Ban on Student After Antisemitic Outburst

Columbia University has enforced a ban on Khymani James, a prominent student protest leader, after a video of James making inflammatory and antisemitic statements resurfaced online. Amid heightened tensions and protests on university campuses nationwide concerning the Israel-Hamas conflict, the move by Columbia has become a focal point of discussions on freedom of speech and student safety.

James, associated with the student group Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), was captured in a video stating, “Zionists don’t deserve to live,” and comparing Zionists to Nazis and racists. The video, verified by NBC News, has prompted considerable backlash from the university community and beyond.

A statement from a Columbia University spokesperson clarified that chants, signs, taunts, and social media posts threatening Jewish people are unacceptable, emphasizing that students will be held accountable for such incidents. The university’s decision to ban James from campus underscores the stance that while peaceful protest is a protected right, calls for violence and discriminatory harassment cannot be tolerated.

The ban comes as student protests, calling for universities to divest from companies doing business with Israel, escalate. The university’s condemnation of the remarks was echoed by the White House. Andrew Bates, White House deputy press secretary, conveyed President Biden’s stance that “violent rhetoric, hate speech, and Antisemitic remarks have no place in America whatsoever.” Bates branded the statements by James as “dangerous” and “appalling,” emphasizing the need for such rhetoric to serve as a “wakeup call.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/columbia-university-enforces-campus-ban-on-student-after-antisemitic-outburst/ar-AA1nOEzb