Students petition for Lancaster Uni to drop charges against student involved in encampment

A petition has been created for a Lancaster University student who was suspended from his course following his involvement in pro-Palestine protests in May 2024.

Joe, who only wants to be known by his first name, was undertaking his third year of study at Lancaster University last year when he was suspended and barred from campus pending further investigation due to “unauthorised use of university property” and “threats to health and safety”.

The petition says that Joe missed his graduation as a result of his expulsion and has been unable to apply for graduate jobs. It demands that the university “drop the charges against Joe.”

He was reported to the police by the university alongside his expulsion, however no formal charges were pressed due to a lack of evidence.

The petition currently has 3,765 signatures and was created by Anna Oakes-Monger on 11th September 2024.

It cites four main demands: for Lancaster University to “immediately drop the charges against Joe,” for it to “cease disciplining or scapegoating pro-Palestine student activists,” to “respect the legal right of students to protest under the European Convention on Human Rights,” and to “stop reporting student activists to the police.”

Joe received news of his suspension via a letter from the university on Tuesday 4th June 2024.

In the letter, he was informed of his exclusion and barring from campus and threatened with further disciplinary action.

The letter, which has been seen by The Lancaster Tab, stated that this was a result of him allegedly gaining “unauthorised access, out of hours, to University House” as well as having allegedly breached the University Discipline Regulations on the 4th June 2024.

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On that day, protestors involved in the pro-Palestine encampment in Alexandra Square, which had been ongoing since early May 2024, had occupied the Lancaster University vice-chancellor’s office overnight.

The university said that during the occupation Joe had breached several student discipline regulations, including anti-social behaviour, acting in a way that threatens the health and safety of himself or others or raises false alarm, and acting in a way that may potentially “bring the university or its partners into disrepute.”

His alleged actions were deemed by the university to cause “a risk of harm to others.”

The protest’s main demand in this protest and the further encampment was that Lancaster University to cut ties with BAE Systems, an aerospace and defence company, which they had said was complicit in “fuelling Israel’s assault on Gaza” as well as publicly announcing their support of Palestine in the Gaza conflict.

BAE Systems and Lancaster University signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2022 which allowed them to share research into “sustainable technologies,” and aimed to help them deepen “engagement with regional businesses.”

Joe will face a disciplinary board on Monday 16th September to review his suspension, and the petition states that the university has said that his degree may be “permanently refused.”

The petition has called this threat “wildly disproportionate and unjust, and unprecedented in the context of university encampments nationally.”

“Students have the right to protest and take political action against their university,” the petition continued.

“The encampment represents hundreds of students and staff who are appalled at Lancaster University’s refusal to end its relationship with BAE Systems even as genocide unfolds in Palestine. Joe has been scapegoated and targeted with severe consequences in order to silence Palestinian solidarity and dissuade other students from challenging the university’s ties to arms manufacturers.”

In a statement to LancsLive ahead of his hearing, Joe said: “It’s been awful to say the least. It’s now September and it’s still going on four months on.

“The weird thing is they have singled me out specifically. Having looked into why they have assumed that I had some role in the leadership of the encampment.

“This is completely false. The whole thing was run without leadership and all decisions were made collectively.

“It’s very hard to fight without knowing what I have done to bring the university into disrepute. The whole process has been a punishment. The uni has scapegoated me to intimidate other protestors.

“Will I keep my degree or not? What will the punishment be? It’s all up in the air.

“I have never got into trouble at university before. I have been part of other student protests during all three years at university.

“I believe they have been dragging this out on purpose to punish me and intimidate other students. The more awful they make this process then the more they think it will stop students wanting to protest.”

Joe told LancsLive that he will take legal action against the university if his degree is permanently refused, “not just to get [his] degree back but [for] compensation”

Lancaster University and BAE Systems have been contacted for comment and this article will be updated if a comment is received. 

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Featured image before edits via change.org