Parker Hovis was four courses away from getting his computer science degree from the University of Florida when he was arrested along with several other students at a pro-Palestine protest on campus last spring. While the charges against him were dismissed and a school conduct committee recommended only minor punishment—a form of probation— the university president suspended him for three years. He’ll be required to reapply if he wants to come back after that.
Hovis, who has since left Florida and is working to pay off his student loans despite never graduating, is one of more than 1,000 students or student groups that were targeted by their universities for punishment between 2020 and 2024 over their speech, according to a report published today by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (Fire). Some 63% of them were ultimately punished.
“Open minds and free debate, not self-censorship and punishment, should be the standard on campuses, and we see far too frequently that isn’t the case,” said Logan Dougherty, the report’s author. “No matter where the pressure is coming from, administrations should resist efforts to punish students for protected speech.”
Read more at The Guardian.
