The University of Chicago’s student president could be expelled before graduation for his role in a May protest.
Student Government President Tyler Kissinger will appear before a disciplinary committee on Friday, the day before graduation, because of a May 19 sit-in, The Chicago Maroon reported.
Kissinger, who believes he is the only protester to face a hearing, has been charged with “premeditated and dishonest behavior to gain entry to Levi Hall, creating an unsafe situation.”
He entered the building under the pretense that he was there on student government related business, then used his backpack to prop open the second-floor door when he went downstairs to let in 33 protesters.
Students called for a minimum wage increase, equitable policing, and an end to the use of fossil fuels. The protest was organized in response to a lack of administrator attendance at public meetings. Protesters came prepared, but dispersed after an hour when they were told they could be expelled or arrested.
Kissinger is “obviously hopeful it’s not expulsion” but also says “it’s hard for me to really say.” In 1967, an anti-draft sit-in led to 58 students receiving suspension sentences, but most weren’t carried out. A sit-in during March 1969, however, led to 42 expulsions and 81 suspensions.
In an email to The New York Times, Jeremy Manier, a university spokesman, defended the university’s policies, though he did not discuss the disciplinary action.
“Freedom of expression and dissent are fundamental values of the University of Chicago. The university’s policies do not prevent students from engaging in protest, and the university does not discipline students for speaking out on any issue,” Manier wrote.
Others have defended and praised the university’s record on free speech, Kissinger said, which he thinks is “scary for a lot of people. If they are cracking down on people who are protesting, I don’t understand what the university means by free expression.”
“To punish students for free expression and for free assembly and for dissenting viewpoints I think chills free speech,” Kissinger told ABC 7.
FIRE gave the university a “green light rating” after the university reformed their speech codes. The organization also endorsed the university’s January 2015 free speech statement and advocated it as a model for other universities to follow.
Kissinger and his fellow protesters were supported by alumnus Bernie Sanders.
Progress takes place when young people pick up the torch and say, “This is a world we are going to change.” https://t.co/USvQ7EAZO6
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) June 8, 2016
Kissinger has not yet bought his cap and gown. His parents are unsure whether they are coming to the graduation.
