UF After Arrest of Anti-Israel Protesters: Campus ‘Not a Daycare’

The University of Florida campus is “not a daycare,” the University of Florida said in a statement following the arrest of protesters on Monday.

Protesters the University of Florida rallied together, deeming themselves the anti-Israel “University of Florida Divest Coalition.”

They released a list of demands, which included disclosure of the university’s investment portfolio over the last ten years, student oversight of future investments, the termination of partnerships who are “directly implicated in human rights violations including the Gaza genocide,” divestment “from funding & partnering with weapons manufacturers that are implicated in human rights violations in the Gaza genocide,” and much more, including a revamp of speaker policy.

That includes not allowing speakers “affiliated with the Israeli military or spreading misinformation about the history of Palestine.” They also demand UF President Ben Sasse to “public denounce violence & discrimination against pro-Palestinian students and call for a ceasefire in Gaza.” There was no mention of calling for a public denouncement of the violence and hatred shown toward Jewish students at various campuses across the country.

On Monday, some protesters were arrested, and the university stuck to its guns.

Students at the University of Central Florida take part in a campus protest against the ongoing Gaza conflict in Orlando, Florida, United States on April 26, 2024. (Paul Hennessy/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“This is not complicated: The University of Florida is not a daycare, and we do not treat protesters like children — they knew the rules, they broke the rules, and they’ll face the consequences,” UF President Ben Sasse said in a statement, explaining that they have told protesters — some of which he said are “outside agitators” — for “many days” that they could exercise their right to free speech and assemble.

“And we also told them that clearly prohibited activities would result in a trespassing order from UPD (barring them from all university properties for three years) and an interim suspension from the university,” he explained.

“For days UPD patiently and consistently reiterated the rules. Today, individuals who refused to comply were arrested after UPD gave multiple warnings and multiple opportunities to comply,” he added.

According to the university, weapons, violence, camping, building of structures, littering, blocking entrances and exits, disruptions, unmanned signs, and amplified sounds are all prohibited during campus demonstrations.

Gov. Ron DeSantis backs this approach as well, telling reporters last week that Florida universities will not tolerate this behavior.

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“We’re not going to tolerate that. You look at these universities. When we have students who are doing things that — I mean, some of the stuff with the Hamas, I think, is absurd that someone would go out and demonstrate on that,” DeSantis said, adding, “But you know, when you’re chasing Jewish students around, when you’re not letting a Jewish professor enter a building, when you’re targeting people like that, that’s not free speech.”

Students at Columbia and Yale seem to “rule the roost” and “do whatever they want,” the governor continued, describing the leaders of these schools as “weak.”

“You do that in Florida at our universities, we’re showing you the door. You’re going to be expelled when you’re doing that stuff, and you know what, the minute people start to face consequences, you are not going to see this nonsense going on,” DeSantis added.

Students met by police at the University of Central Florida as a campus protest goes on. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The news comes as unrest continues at several campuses across the country, as about 100 pro-Israel vigilantes stormed the “Palestine Solidarity Encampment” at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) on Tuesday: