Hampton University student activists punished
12/03/2005
Several Hampton University students who handed out fliers criticizing the Iraq war and the federal response to Hurricane Katrina were ordered to complete community service after appearing Friday before a campus disciplinary panel.
Seven students were charged with a minor procedural violation for posting unauthorized handbills and failing to register a protest with the school, the university said in a statement late Friday.
The statement said no students were expelled. University spokeswoman Yuri Rodgers Milligan said she could not comment on actions taken against individual students.
Student Aaron Ray said he and five other students received letters Friday evening informing them they would be required to complete 20 hours of community service as punishment. The seventh student had not received a letter, Ray said.
"The community service is reasonable, but what we had to go through to get to this point was not reasonable," said Ray, 19, of Columbia, Md.
Ray said the students earlier had received letters informing them that they could be expelled after they distributed fliers Nov. 2 as part of a nationwide student walkout sponsored by the group World Can't Wait, which wants President Bush removed from office.
"We don't see that we won't be expelled as any kind of victory here," Ray said. "After this, changes still need to be made here. There's no real rights for us students here."
Punishments listed in the student handbook include a warning, suspension and expulsion, said Rebecca K. Glenberg, an American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia lawyer who attended Friday's hearings to advise the students.
The hearings were closed and an Associated Press reporter was barred from the private school's campus.
In the statement, the university said it permits peaceful protest but that students must comply with school policies and procedures.
"No students were disciplined for their beliefs," the statement said.
As the hearings took place, about 20 community activists and other Hampton students stood outside the campus entrance, holding signs demanding "Justice for the HU 7" and wearing masking tape inscribed with the words "Free Speech" across their mouths.
"They were singled out partially for their views," said protest organizer Tom Palumbo of the Virginia Anti-War Network. "Hampton University is known for having a conservative bent. At the same time, universities are supposed to be the birthplace of free speech and new ideas."
About 20 students, many associated with Amnesty International, took part in the Nov. 2 walkout. The students stood at the historically black university's student center and handed out leaflets about issues including AIDS, homophobia and genocide in Sudan, as well as the Iraq war and Katrina.
Campus police shut down the event and seized the ID cards of several students, according to students.
The ACLU of Virginia also sent a letter to university officials Thursday asking them to refrain from punishing the students and to revise rules to expand student free-speech rights.
Only recognized student groups qualify for permission to hand out leaflets, and Hampton University has refused to recognize an Amnesty International chapter, the ACLU said.
"We're just very concerned with the protection of free speech in all arenas, and particularly in universities, where the free exchange of ideas is so important," said Glenberg, ACLU of Virginia's legal director.
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Friday, December 2nd 2005 at 11:30PM
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