Attacking pro-Palestinian students is a favorite pastime of failed politicians trying to revive their sinking reputation. At Columbia University, embattled Speaker of the House Mike Johnson spoke as students heckled him to “grandstand louder.” Here at UF, Gov. Ron DeSantis made multiple attempts to suppress pro-Palestinian students.
At first, the State University System of Florida attempted to outright ban Students for Justice in Palestine. In last year’s debate, as his presidential campaign flailed, DeSantis bragged that he had “deactivated” the organization. This attempt, just like his presidential aspirations, crashed and burned. Realizing that the order was likely unconstitutional, UF never followed through on the order to deactivate the organization.
When encampments erupted throughout the country in protest of mass Palestinian casualties, which the International Court of Justice deemed a “plausible” genocide, DeSantis saw another opportunity to elevate his political standing following his failed presidential campaign.
As a participant in the protests, pro-Palestinian demonstrations at UF made the best efforts to follow university policy. Instead, it was the university that invented increasingly arbitrary policies and conducted mass arrests after students “failed” to comply. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators did not set up tents, did not block passage for students going to class and built community with one another. Students took shifts to establish a consistent presence in the Plaza of the Americas, shared food with one another, conducted teach-ins and watched films.
Despite clearly complying with UF policy, the administration was dead set on arresting students. After a few days of establishing a presence in Plaza, UF officials passed around an unsigned and hastily put together document detailing new policies for protestors. Many policies, such as not setting up tents and remaining peaceful, were already being followed. Others, such as banning pillows, chairs and unmanned signs, were arbitrarily added.
UPD harassment against peaceful student demonstrators also ramped up. Officers would walk among demonstrators to haphazardly inform us that tarps (but not blankets) were not allowed or that food could not be communal and had to belong to someone. Into the night, a UPD car turned on its high beams on pro-Palestinian protesters. When informed that such lights were irritating, an officer curtly replied, “We know.”
The unprofessionalism of UPD reached a crescendo with the embarrassing “arrest” of several chairs. The next day, UPD arrested three students for sitting on chairs and then mass arrested six other students for various reasons.
Finally achieving his long-sought arrests, DeSantis took a victory lap. UF released a viral statement saying it “is not a daycare” and lied that protestors were outside agitators (most were, in fact, students). DeSantis also came to campus to gloat about the arrests, sharing speaking time with the now scandal ridden former UF President Ben Sasse.
From UF to Sasse to DeSantis, none of their public statements have ever acknowledged the reason for the arrests: sitting on chairs in a public plaza. In an editorial, Sasse mentions “clearly prohibited activities” but doesn’t mention what such activities were. The UF statement uses the same vague wording.
The silence on the part of UF, Sasse and DeSantis on the reason for the arrests exposes their embarrassment about the entire ordeal. Instead of speaking about the concrete fact they arrested students for sitting in chairs, they grandstand about “university policy,” lie about outside agitators and gloat to the media.
The university’s desperation for political clout may have garnered national attention but it has been costly to the students arrested, who have faced disproportionately harsh punishments despite recommendations by the Student Conduct Committee and calls from UF faculty.
More importantly, such spectacle takes away from the massacre of Palestinians of which, a study in “The Lancet” estimates, the death toll likely exceeds 186,000. While Sasse grandstands about the role of higher education, there are no universities left in Gaza. As the deaths of innocent civilians continue to rack up and war in the Middle East expands, UF’s embarrassing conduct will be remembered for the sham it was.
Rey Arcenas is a UF history and women’s studies senior.
