‘You don’t get to take over the whole university’

University of Florida President Ben Sasse said students have the right to peacefully protest the pro-Palestinian protests taking place on his campus and across the country, but that they cannot “take over the entire university.” Stated.

“And what we want to say to all of our students, both those who are protesting and those who are not, is that there are two things that we repeat and affirm over and over again. That means we will always protect your rights to free speech and freedom of assembly,” Sasse said on CNN. of the Union. ”

“There are also time, space and etiquette restrictions, and you can’t take over the entire university. People can’t spit on police. They can’t barricade themselves in buildings. They can’t stop other people from starting classes. It cannot be interfered with,” he said.

Sass, a former senator representing Nebraska, reiterated that neither protesters nor other students have the right to set up encampments on campus.

“I ran past a group of demonstrators waving a Palestinian flag. We protect their right to do so. But we have rules. One of those rules is: “We don’t allow camping on campus. So we can’t start building encampments, but our goal is not to arrest people,” he said.

“It’s so they can abide by the rules. They can protest. They can try to persuade people, but they can’t build camps. Nobody, nobody else. Nor do we do that,” he added.

Pro-Palestinian protests have erupted across the country for weeks, resulting in arrests, canceled graduation ceremonies and moving in-person classes online. The demonstrations have attracted national attention, with protesters setting up encampments on campuses across the country.

Sasse noted that officials will not “negotiate with the people who are screaming the loudest” during protests on the University of Florida campus. He also added that on-campus graduation ceremonies have not been suspended.

“We believe in the right to free speech. We believe in the right to freely assemble, so we can persuade people,” he said. “But what’s happening on so many campuses across the country is that instead of many universities drawing the line on speech and behavior, it’s strange to give the smallest and angriest groups the most attention and the most attention.” It’s about giving a voice, and that’s not what we think we’re going to do here.”