Peach Tree Times

University of Georgia has not punished students who staged an October pro-HAMAS rally at the school, advocating for the elimination of Israel.

School officials confirmed to the Peachtree Times that they have made no public statements about “Day of Resistance Rally for Palestine,” and that there are no “records, communications, or documents related to disciplinary actions” taken by the school.

The rally was held at UGA’s Arch on Oct. 12, 2023, sponsored by UGA’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter and featuring speakers from Athens Against Cop City and Young Democratic Socialists of America.

UGA’s Student Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy defines discriminatory harassment as “unwelcome verbal or physical conduct” based on, among other criteria, “ethnicity or national origin” and “religion.

Students who “interfere with an individual’s educational performance”, or create an “intimidating, hostile, or offensive” environment are in violation of the policy.

UGA has publicly announced student conduct violations in the past.

In Feb. 1973, 25 University of Georgia students pled guilty to criminal trespass charges and were brought before the university’s student judiciary after staging a “sit-down” in the university president’s office. They were protesting housing policies that allowed men to visit women’s dormitories.

In Sept. 2016, Pi Kappa Phi fraternity was found in violation of “university regulations” for requiring its members to do push-ups and for “throwing food and condiments at students.”

In May 2019, UGA graduate student Iramtei Osei-Frimpong was investigated but found not to be in violation of the school’s student code of conduct for posting on social media that “some white people may have to die for black communities to be whole in this struggle to advance freedom.”