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Pro-Palestinian protesters at UMW take break after arrests
A group of local college students who have been protesting in support of Palestinians and against the Israeli government have temporarily suspended activities following a weekend in which nine of them were arrested, a group organizer said. Amirah Ahmed, a student at the University of Mary Washington and the president of the university’s Students for Justice in Palestine, said Monday that her group has suspended protest-related activities for the rest of the semester, which is nearly over.
Police arrested 13 at VCU pro-Palestinian protest
Protests on Virginia’s university campuses have continued to escalate, with police using pepper spray to disperse a crowd and arresting 13 individuals connected to a pro-Palestinian demonstration at Virginia Commonwealth University on Monday evening. The university said in a statement that those arrested were charged with unlawful assembly and trespassing. Six were students who will go through the university’s conduct process, according to the statement.
As hazing reports increase at UVa, documents show fear of retaliation keeps students, parents from coming forward
Serious hazing complaints on another Virginia college campus have more fraternities in hot water. The University of Virginia has shut down one of the oldest fraternity chapters at the school, Pi Kappa Alpha, for what the university called “serious hazing behavior” in a statement to WUSA9. … Pi Kappa Alpha said the termination of its UVA charter will last for at least four years. Meanwhile, UVA said it has suspended activities at three other fraternities – Kappa Sigma, Theta Chi and Sigma Alpha Mu – pending hazing investigations in those houses.
Demonstration for Palestine at CNU remains peaceful
As protests pop up at colleges and universities across the nation, community members at Christopher Newport University are some of the latest demonstrators to support the Palestinian people and push leaders toward a ceasefire in Gaza and Israel. Community members began organizing at the university’s Great Lawn at 7 p.m. Tuesday as the school’s sprinklers watered the grass.
Missing Middle critic subpoenaed as Arlington County seeks to ‘know what forces’ are behind lawsuit
County government requests for extensive documentation in a Missing Middle lawsuit have expanded to include an outspoken critic who’s helping to fund the suit. Attorneys representing Arlington County contacted Dan Creedon, one of the founders of the anti-Missing Middle group Neighbors for Neighborhoods (NfN), with a broad subpoena last week. … Creedon is not one of the 10 plaintiffs in the litigation, which alleges that the Arlington County Board failed to follow due process when it created the Expanded Housing Option last year. But NfN is financially backing the lawsuit with a GoFundMe campaign that has raised some $72,000 since last June.
Florida’s Abortion Ban Will Reach Well Beyond Florida
As of Wednesday, Florida has banned abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. It will have far-reaching effects. In 2021, abortion was legal in every state, and the average American woman lived less than 25 miles from a clinic. But after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, some states banned all or most abortions, including many in the South. Florida, North Carolina and Virginia were the only states in the South offering abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. For 6.4 million women, the nearest clinic was in Florida. Now, that option is gone. Women in several states will need to travel hundreds of miles farther to reach a clinic. It is the biggest change to abortion access since the period immediately after the reversal of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Virginia free clinics see sharp rise in patient visits
Ill Virginians who cannot afford to go elsewhere for care are continuing to pour into a cornerstone of the state’s health care safety net, free and charitable clinics report. So far in the state fiscal year 2024, patient demand is up 11.5% from the same period a year ago, according to new data from the Virginia Association of Free and Charitable Clinics. That increase comes on top of the 28% increase the clinics saw in fiscal year 2023.
University of Mary Washington president says arrested students won’t face charges
University of Mary Washington President Troy Paino assured a group of students that he’s been in communication with Fredericksburg Commonwealth’s Attorney Libby Humphries to ensure that nine of their peers who were arrested for trespassing last weekend as part of a campus protest will not ultimately face criminal charges. That was one revelation that came out of a remarkably candid meeting that Paino held with a group of students on Tuesday in a conference room in George Washington Hall, which houses UMW’s administrative offices.
UVa allows protesters to remain in ‘liberated zone’ so long as it doesn’t become an encampment
A student-led protest demanding the University of Virginia divest from the state of Israel originally planned for Wednesday got off to an early start Tuesday afternoon. University officials say the nearly 100 protesters gathered on Grounds will be allowed to stay so long as they do not erect tents, as have been seen at other campus protests nationwide. And those protesters — a crowd including students, faculty and Charlottesville community members — were complying even as a light rain began to fall late Tuesday night.
Protest over student arrests blooms anew on University of Mary Washington campus
From the moment University of Mary Washington sociology professor Nora Kim learned that nine students were arrested on campus Saturday and charged with trespassing after re-erecting an encampment during a nonviolent protest in support of Palestine, she believed police intervention was unwarranted. Kim said that while instructing students she explains to them that they should get involved with causes they are passionate about. Kim helped organize a flower protest — a peaceful and silent demonstration — in support of students’ rights to protest Tuesday morning on campus outside of George Washington Hall.