Students arrested in the Vestal Parkway protest will not have to face judicial charges from the University, after a meeting between students, administrators and the Graduate Student Organization last week settled the matter through a discussion.
Last Thursday, the students involved in the Vestal Parkway protest incident met with a number of BU officials to discuss perspectives and the possibility of avoiding further action. Among those in attendance at the meeting were GSO President Wazir Mohamed, Student Association President David Bass, Associate Vice President and Dean of Students Lloyd Howe and Vice President for Student Affairs Brian Rose.
As a result of this meeting, the administration has decided that further investigation into the protesters’ actions is unnecessary.
“No student has been or will be charged with a violation of the Rules of Student Conduct for actions arising out of the Parkway incident,” Rose said.
Nine people — including eight BU students — were arrested March 18 when an anti-war protest on the Vestal Parkway escalated into a confrontation with police. Three of the students were held on $500 bail. The charges included obstructing governmental administration in the second degree, resisting arrest (both Class A misdemeanors) and disorderly conduct (a violation).
In the aftermath of the arrests, GSO asked the administration to halt the Judicial Board proceedings until the situation played itself out in the court system.
Thursday’s meeting had been first proposed by Mohamed, who requested Rose meet with the students in hopes of settling the matter outside of Judicial Affairs.
“We felt that we should have a forum to explore settling matters through dialogue rather than the judicial process,” said Mohamed.
Members of the GSO also felt that the intentions of the protesters had been misconstrued and that blame had been mistakenly laid.
“We would like to see investigations pursued into the arrests and into the police conduct on that day,” Mohamed said. “I don’t think it was their intention of creating that kind of disturbance and we would like the University to join us in pursuing that [investigation].”
The main purpose of the meeting was for those present to share their views on the incident and how it would be best to proceed. The attendees spoke generally about the events and tried to determine what really happened during the protest.
“I was appreciative of the opportunity to share my perspective on the events of that day,” Rose said. “The students with whom I met spoke convincingly about their own perspectives as well.”
Students said the meeting was an opportunity to speak openly about their actions and their political views.
“We sat and spoke freely and respectfully and we talked about how we believed we had a right to civil disobedience,” said Sherry Ashkins, a member of Experimental Media Organization who participated in the protest but was not arrested, and attended the meeting as an advocate for protesters. “It went great!”
The meeting was a way for the administration and the students to meet informally to work out issues through discussion, and some feel that that goal was accomplished.
“We would like to commend the administration on taking the high road and agreeing to forgo the judicial process which further divides the campus,” Mohamed said.
“We are happy we were able to sit as equal participants and come to a conclusion on an issue that affects the entire campus,” he added.
While the charges have been dropped on campus, the cases are still being brought to trial. A pre-trial conference is scheduled for May 6.