Back in April and May, college campuses across the U.S. and Virginia saw both protests and strong police responses. Inspired by Columbia University, students across the country called upon school officials to have their schools divest from Israel.
Spring of this year saw mass arrests in 4 major colleges in Virginia in the span of a week. 12 arrested at Mary Washington University on April 27, 82 arrested at Virginia Tech on April 28, 13 arrested at VCU on April 29, and 25 arrested at Virginia University on May 4.
Later that month Senator Ghazala Hashmi called for a committee to investigate the college responses. Hashmi is currently running for Lieutenant Governor in the 2025 election and is known for calm demeanor instead of attention-grabbing shouting.
The Virginia Senate does not have the power to subpoena and would require these colleges to voluntarily participate—something delicate for college officials in the wake of a Congressional hearing last year, where Republicans accused Ivy League presidents of antisemitism following college protests. Those hearings resulted in the termination of two university presidents as conservatives demanded those colleges take stronger actions against protests.
By September 17, the first meeting was finally held. The four colleges accounting for over 100 arrests in Virginia sent representatives, along with George Mason University. Senator Hashmi chaired the meeting and established the rule that questions would not be directed to institutional representatives or anyone else during public comment.
Republican Senators on the committee, including Mark Peake, Tara Durant, and Christie New Craig, voiced their frustration during the meeting. Senator Hashmi held firm, stating she did not want 60-second sound clips.
As the colleges gave their presentations, most chose to play close to the vest regarding possible lawsuits against them, discussing their policies on student demonstrations rather than the demonstrations themselves.
While George Mason University’s representative was speaking, Senator Mark Peake interrupted to ask where the protesters were chanting. Senator Hashmi reiterated that speakers would not be questioned that day. Senator Peake raised his voice to ask “When?” Senator Craig interjected, claiming that members of the Senate Committee were being denied their freedom of speech. Hashmi explained that the question would be sent to those institutions, which would respond at a later time.
“Freedom of speech” actually means that the government cannot take away an individual’s ability to speak. These are elected representatives of the government following the rules established in the Virginia Senate. It’s akin to claiming a violation of the First Amendment because a congressman is not allowed to shout at the President during the State of the Union.
Senator Durant proclaimed that she would not be silenced and asserted that otherwise, the meeting was a sham. Senator Craig expressed her frustration, stating, “It’s going to be very difficult for us to remember who spoke, what they said, and take down notes for this whole meeting.”
The committee began to take comments from individual members of the public. Both student protesters and Zionists had an opportunity to speak. When VCU student Sereen Haddad addressed the Senate Committee, Senator Mark Peake interrupted her, upset that she referenced family members killed by Israelis in Gaza as a reason for her protest.
Meanwhile, Zionist speakers, like Rabbi Dovid Asher of Keneseth, could not resist bringing up international politics and hurling baseless accusations at student protesters. Senator Hashmi asked Rabbi Asher to speak about issues in Virginia, but he persisted with his soapbox speech. Audience members gesticulated in outrage until his time expired, prompting him to leave the podium. I must apologize, as I was also wildly waving my hands in surprise at the absurdity.
The majority of the individual speakers were students and faculty who experienced or witnessed police violence, many of whom were arrested in the spring.
Some other Zionist speakers included unsuccessful Ashland Board of Supervisor candidate Yael Levin and Anti-Defamation League representative Meredith Weisel. Weisel stated that “several Jewish students were asked to come speak today but were afraid.” Immediately after the ADL representative spoke, UVA student Eli Weinger said, “The only time I have ever felt unsafe as a Jewish student at the University of Virginia is when [UVA] President [Jim] Ryan used my identity and my culture as a cudgel with which to violently oppress constitutionally protected free speech.” Weinger was referring to the violent reaction of Virginia State Police to protesters on May 4th.
Additionally, Virginia Public Safety Secretary Terry Cole expressed concerns about open-source reporting involving “dark money” from Hamas and Hezbollah but could not share details in the open meeting. That open-source reporting Secretary Cole referred to could be from The Foundation for Defense of Democracy. An NBC News report in March in March stated that they could not find a clear link.
After the meeting, Republican Senators approached and expressed their frustrations about not being able to ask questions. Senator Peake claimed he interrupted individual speakers to voice his frustration, but not during college officials’ presentations—something that wasn’t true, as he interrupted the representative from George Mason. Sereen Haddad briefly spoke to Senator Peake, who walked away when she unsuccessfully attempted to get him to admit that there was an ongoing genocide in Gaza. In the hallways of the committee room, Zionists confronted students and began shouting about Hamas.
The purpose of the meeting was to listen; however, the Republican Senators did not want to listen—they wanted to obfuscate and accuse. It remains to be seen what led to the events that caused four different universities to have mass arrests in the span of a week. Were the universities under pressure from state officials to make arrests?
The Virginia Mercury had a FOIA request for communication between Rob Bell of the Virginia Attorney General’s office and Aimee Guidera of the Virginia Education Department from April 26, the day before the first mass arrests at a Virginia college.
“It is the legal position of the Office of the Attorney General that setting up a tent or establishing an encampment on university or college property is disruptive of the school’s activities and may violate other administrative policies.”
Another group reacting this meeting is The Family Foundation. The Christian conservative lobbyist organization wrote “…this is a sham hearing on ‘free speech’ meant to give cover to pro-Hamas rioters.”
It’s important to have dialogue and communication—something Democratic Senators stressed and something they seem intent on continuing. Students for Justice in Palestine and other protesters will do so as well. However, other sides appear too stubborn to engage. Zionists and Christian conservatives are not interested in discussion, but rather in name-calling and blanket accusations. University officials do not want to discuss the school’s investments in Israel and defense contractors, which is why protests spill into the streets. Most of all, law enforcement does not maintain an open dialogue, as VCU students and Richmonders witnessed on April 29th.
Main image: VCU student Sereen Haddad and Senator Mark Peake (R-Lynchburg) September 17, 2024. Richmond, VA, photo by Goad Gatsby
