Support DU Protesters Facing Legal Burdens

The University of Denver protest community needs your continued support of their activities in advocacy for Palestinian liberation this past spring. Numerous students are facing punishments ranging from revocation of enrollment at DU to criminal charges. Many of these folks are from the scholarship & working classes, and the scale of this financial burden affects them heavier than most of their peers.

These punishments are wildly disproportionate to the reality of the DU community's peaceful protest actions. The “accountability” system imposed by the DU administration leverages an extreme power imbalance that directly threatens the exercise of free speech. We must ensure that people will not be silenced for demanding justice and accountability from powerful institutions.

We ask the DU community to come together and offer financial support for those of us still fighting injustice. We are raising money for those in our community to hire attorneys and pay any court fees.

From an affected activist: “We are desperate: stuck between life-shaking punishments and expenses that we simply cannot afford. Please share the link within your communities, AND have conversations about this.”

Our goal of 15k supports a small group of affiliated protestors. We hope to reach this goal by January 2025. Any additional funds will be used as direct aid for Palestinian families.

From an Impacted Student:

Refusing to be complicit with genocide has its consequences, but especially so for a student dependent upon loans and work-study. It’s taken a huge financial toll on me. This spring, the DU administration forced me to withdraw from my in-progress courses without credit, barred me from attending my job, and withdrew access to school housing. I lost an estimated $13,000 as a result of these actions alone.

Now, I am struggling to recover. I’m amazed at how little action it took to receive this punishment. I was suspended for standing on a lawn and bearing witness to genocide. More specifically, I am being punished for two reasons: peaceful noncompliance with identification checks and maintaining my presence at the encampment. The financial burden of suspension is WILDLY disproportionate to the actions I engaged in.

This GoFundMe sum does not only go towards supporting me. More than five students are floundering under these unjust punishments. I’m asking our network to contribute a sum covering the attorney costs necessary to fight the unfair actions of the DU administration. This money will only go toward outstanding legal fees, not compensating for other past losses. We are seeing firsthand how far the administration will go to eradicate resistance on their grounds. We are asking you, once again, to stand with us.