The chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in the U.S. state of Georgia filed a lawsuit against the University of Georgia alleging anti-Muslim discrimination.

The lawsuit says students associated with a group advocating for Palestinian justice have been the target of harassment on campus, and the university took no meaningful action to end the harassment, Atlanta News First reported. (September 2024)

LOS ANGELES — 

The University of California board of regents approved Thursday additional non-lethal weapons requested by UCLA police, which handled some of the nation's largest student protests against the Israel-Hamas war.

Clashes between protestors and counter-protestors earlier this year on the campus led to more than a dozen injuries, and more than 200 people were arrested at a demonstration the next day.

The equipment UCLA police requested and the board approved included pepper balls and sponge rounds, projectile launchers and new drones. The board also signed off on equipment purchase requests for the nine other police departments on UC campuses.

Student protesters at the regents meeting were cleared from the room after yelling broke out when the agenda item was presented.

Faculty and students have criticized UCLA police for their use of non-lethal weapons in campus demonstrations, during which some protesters suffered injuries.

During public comment, UCLA student association representative Tommy Contreras said the equipment was used against peaceful protestors and demonstrators.

"I am outraged that the University of California is prioritizing funding for military equipment while slashing resources for education," Contreras said. "Students, staff and faculty have been hurt by this very equipment used not for safety but to suppress voices."

California law enforcement agencies are required by state law to submit an annual report on the acquisition and use of weapons characterized as "military equipment." A UC spokesperson called it a "routine" agenda item not related to any particular incidents.

"The University's use of this equipment provides UC police officers with non-lethal alternatives to standard-issue firearms, enabling them to de-escalate situations and respond without the use of deadly force," spokesperson Stett Holbrook said.

Many of the requests are replacements for training equipment, and the drones are for assisting with search and rescue missions, according to Holbrook. The equipment is "not military surplus, nor is it military-grade or designed for military use," Holbrook said.

UCLA police are requesting 3,000 more pepper balls to add to their inventory of 1,600; 400 more sponge and foam rounds to their inventory of 200; eight more "less lethal" projectile launchers; and three new drones.

The report to the regents said there were no complaints or violations of policy found related to the use of the military equipment in 2023.

History professor Robin D.G. Kelley said he spent an evening with a student in the emergency room after the student was shot in the chest during a June 11 demonstration.

"The trauma center was so concerned about the condition of his heart that they kept him overnight to the next afternoon after running two echocardiograms," Kelley said the day after the student was injured. "The student was very traumatized."

UC's systemwide director of community safety Jody Stiger told the board the weapons were not to be used for crowd control or peaceful protests but "life-threatening circumstances" or violent protests where "campus leadership have deemed the need for law enforcement to utilize force to defend themselves or others."

After the Supreme Court’s ruling banning affirmative action in college applications, competitive schools are reporting a decline in first-time minority enrollment.

But the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities are seeing a surge in applications, Liam Knox writes in Inside Higher Ed. (September 2024)

In the last few years, the number of men enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities has dropped by 6%, and the proportion of male students is at an all-time low of 41%.

Lauren Hamilton of WAMU American University Radio looks at why the shift is happening, and what universities are doing about it. (August 2024)

ann arbor, michigan — 

Authorities have filed charges against nine people who are accused of trespassing or resisting police during the May breakup of a pro-Palestinian camp at the University of Michigan.

"The First Amendment does not provide a cover for illegal activity," Attorney General Dana Nessel said Thursday, a day after charges were filed in Washtenaw County.

The camp on the Diag, known for decades as a site for campus protests, was cleared by police on May 21 after a month. Video posted online showed police using what appeared to be an irritant to spray people, who were forced to retreat.

The university said the camp had become a threat to safety, with overloaded power sources and open flames.

Nessel said two people were charged with trespassing, a misdemeanor, and seven more people were charged with trespassing as well as resisting police, a felony.

Protesters have demanded that the school's endowment stop investing in companies with ties to Israel. But the university insists it has no direct investments and less than $15 million placed with funds that might include companies in Israel. That's less than 0.1% of the total endowment.

U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib, a Detroit Democrat who supports the protesters, said the charges were "frivolous" and a "shameful attack" on the rights of students.

Separately, Nessel said state prosecutors charged two people for alleged acts during a counterdemonstration on April 25, a few days after the camp was created.

Nessel said authorities still were investigating spring protests at the homes of elected members of the university's governing board.