This story was reported and written by VPM News.
On Nov. 20, Sereen Haddad told a special House of Delegates committee that the Israeli military had killed 170 of her family members.
The death toll of her relatives has steadily been climbing: In September, the Virginia Commonwealth University student told state senators 152 had been killed. Then, she spoke about a 14-year-old cousin, Abdullah, who was “bombed while trying to get bread for his family.”
Haddad is in a group chat with relatives in Gaza, who sent two photos with a message announcing her cousin’s death earlier this year: the first of a smiling Abdullah, and the second of her cousin’s body lying on the ground. On the ground next to him were pieces of bread.
“He was known to be the top of his class,” Haddad said. She wants people to remember that the lives lost represent individual people and not statistics. “Each and every single one of those people did have dreams, and they had aspirations.”
Haddad has dedicated countless hours to raising awareness of the conflict on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University and across the city of Richmond. The psychology student said she struggles with survivor’s guilt, and after graduation hopes to provide therapy to those in Gaza who’ve dealt with trauma after trauma.
Back in the spring, she told VPM News over 100 relatives had been killed since October, while she sported a black eye and a sling from when law enforcement broke up a protest of students and other VCU demonstrators on April 29.
That morning, students sang songs and chanted slogans: “Free Palestine,” “Viva, Viva Palestina,” “Ceasefire Now” and “intifada,” meaning uprising or rebellion.
Then as evening approached, demonstrators erected tents on the Richmond campus lawn, a tactic pro-Gaza student protesters across the country adopted following months of demonstrations that failed to sway university officials to adhere to their demands.
Three law enforcement agencies broke up the protest at VCU after administrators determined students were violating the school’s reservation and use of space policy, which forbids tents and other structures on campus for unapproved events with expected attendance exceeding 150.
Thirteen people were arrested at VCU’s protest and later charged with trespassing and unlawful assembly. They were among more than 100 arrested statewide at similar demonstrations — the protests and law enforcement response spurred a legislative inquiry from the General Assembly to examine protest policies and campus safety.
The House committee Haddad testified before was set to finish its work on Dec. 1, but Del. Charniele Herring (D–Alexandria), told reporters the work may continue. Speakers at the committee said the meeting was biased toward universities rather than the student protesters. As of Dec. 4, the work is ongoing.
At least 10 public Virginia universities have since tightened their rules governing students’ use of campus space in response to students protesting what different United Nations bodies have labeled genocide, a legal term defined in a 1948 treaty.
In some cases, the rules were revised shortly after demonstrations. State and university officials have said the policy changes were made due to safety concerns unrelated to the protests' messaging or timing.
"[W]e don't take sides. We're just here to provide a safe space for our students,” Aaron J. Hart, VCU’s vice president of student affairs, told VPM News in a September interview. “We never get into the politics, and we make sure that we enforce all the rules equally.”
But the changes at VCU were made days after statewide officials announced their support for Israel’s military operations and opposition to pro-Palestinian protests. And since the implementation of those new policies and law enforcement responses, student protests on Gaza have become less frequent.
“I would like to speak on behalf of myself and multiple students at VCU, saying we do not agree with these policies,” said VCU student Cristina Sayegh at the special House committee hearing in November. “The only reason we comply is because I don't want to be slammed against a wall again.”
VPM News is basing its reporting on hundreds of pages of communications it obtained through records requests, interviews and press inquiries with state and university officials.'
'Do we have a clear policy of what can and can't be posted?'
Policy changes at VCU in reaction to student demonstrations regarding Palestine and Gaza predate the spring of 2024, when student encampments — and responses — thrust the issue into headlines nationwide.
Beginning in November 2023, VCU Health workers and medical students held a weekly vigil for medical workers in Gaza. The short evening vigils featured speeches, candles, flowers and posters to memorialize the health care workers killed by the Israel Defense Forces. As of Dec. 1, the Israeli military had killed more than 986 health care workers and detained at least 310, according to a September report from the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza.
At the end of January, a facilities campus coordinator for VCU’s MCV Campus wrote to the director of facilities services and a communications manager to express concerns about the vigil and flyers. In that email, the coordinator attributed the concerns directly to Kevin Harris, the School of Medicine’s senior associate dean for DEI.
She described concerns with posters that included images of medical providers who have “passed away,” “showing ‘Free Palestine’/ ‘Zionism’ language” and QR codes for donating to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.
"As these are political posts and the messaging itself may get worse over time,” she wrote, “... do we have a clear policy of what can and can't be posted on VCU property/ School of Medicine buildings? Students are becoming increasingly concerned about the messages being posted.”
There was no School of Medicine policy at the time, despite other individual colleges having their own, like VCUArts. The School of Medicine developed an interim policy in mid-February, a spokesperson said, due to “pre-scheduled facilities maintenance” ahead of an accreditation site visit by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. James did not mention the accreditation visit in her January email. Politics or political messaging have no role in LCME accreditation, a spokesperson for the Association of American Medical Colleges told VPM News.
Vigil organizers said staff informed them they would have to remove their materials due to a scheduled powerwash of a wall.
But other communications from the medical school’s maintenance managers, obtained by VPM News, dispute that by indicating the powerwashing could wait.
“We have postponed the pressure wash and are waiting on a new reduced price quote. The pressure wash can wait till late Spring,” wrote VCU School of Medicine’s operations manager on Jan. 30. “Hopefully, this will prevent the memorial from being damaged and give us time to formulate a policy.”
The medical school’s chief of staff responded within an hour not to cancel the powerwashing.
“This is still under discussion with senior leaders,” she wrote.
Eventually, a contractor powerwashed the wall on Feb. 15, according to invoices and maintenance tickets. Since then, vigils have been less frequent.
'The Attorney General will vigorously defend the university'
In Richmond, student protests in support of Gaza began shortly after Oct. 7, 2023, when Palestinian militants — primarily the group Hamas — killed 1,100 Israelis and took over 200 others hostage. The Israeli military responded, killing 10,000 people in the first 30 days.
Sereen Haddad has dedicated her time to organizing protests, walkouts and other calls to action as a leader of the VCU group Students for Justice in Palestine.
“We're seeing mothers that are holding the bodies of their children in two pieces,” said Haddad. “We saw a man hold his son's headless body up after the massacre in Rafah. It's not normal. None of this is normal.”
SJP has been demanding the university disclose and divest from all connections to Israel. That includes getting rid of some financial investments like stocks and bonds, as well as severing ties with companies on the school’s campus that have Israeli connections — like Subway and Pizza Hut.
Additionally, the group wants VCU to declare support for a permanent, immediate ceasefire in Gaza and to condemn “the U.S. complicity in the ongoing genocide.”
Three days before protesters first erected tents on VCU’s campus in April, Virginia universities received a legal opinion from Attorney General Jason Miyares’ office.
“It is the legal position of the Office of the Attorney General that setting up a tent or establishing an encampment on university or college property is disruptive of the school’s activities and may violate other administrative policies,” Deputy AG Rob Bell wrote to Education Secretary Aimee Guidera in an April 26 email obtained by VPM News.
“The university or college has the authority to refuse to allow such activity and also has the authority to take down any tents that have been set up. The Attorney General will vigorously defend the university or college from any challenge to this authority.”
The OAG declined to tell VPM News who requested that opinion or if it was requested at all.
Miyares has long publicly advocated for Israel, including organizing the shipment of tactical equipment to Israel and investigating Virginia-based lobbying groups that oppose the Israeli occupation.
On April 28, a day before VCU students erected tents, Gov. Glenn Youngkin made his stance on encampments on university campuses clear on TV.
“I have been working with our attorney general, Jason Miyares, our university presidents, law enforcement on the state, local and campus level to make sure if there are protests, they are peaceful,” he said on CNN. “We’re not going to have encampments and tents put up.”
The OAG’s opinion was publicly released after a university president showed it to students, but all other communications between the attorney general’s office and Youngkin were withheld from the records request — citing attorney-client privilege and Virginia’s “working papers” exemption for top elected officials and appointees.
As VCU students gathered in the morning of April 29 at the Cabell Library, they wrote messages of support for Palestinians on sidewalks with chalk, sang songs and chanted anti-war slogans.
Around 5:45 p.m., many assembled barricades and set up tents or other structures.
At 7:31 p.m., Chelsea Gray, VCU’s executive director of board and executive operations, wrote an email to the university Board of Visitors stating that the gathering from the morning had grown to “about 125 to 150” individuals and reported that many were not affiliated with the university.
An unlawful assembly
“VCU is committed to upholding and protecting free speech, health and safety. The university must also maintain campus operations,” Gray wrote. “VCU staff will make clear that the gathering cannot continue and will respectfully and repeatedly ask individuals to leave. If, after a reasonable time, they do not leave, people will be subject to arrest for trespassing. Our professional police force is prepared to manage this as peacefully as possible.”
Gray later told VPM News in an email that the message came from VCU’s Incident Coordination Team, a group responsible for the college’s federally mandated emergency response system.
As protests continued throughout the evening, access to Cabell Library was not obstructed as students studied for finals inside, many ignoring the protest or watching from floors above.
At 8:30 p.m., VCU Police, the Richmond Police Department and Virginia State Police arrived on campus. According to a VCU spokesperson, that is when law enforcement made the first announcement that the students and other protesters were in violation of university policy and told to disperse.
After announcements at 8:33, 8:36, and 8:39, VCU’s spokesperson said an unlawful assembly was declared at 8:43 p.m.
Police had been on the scene for 13 minutes.
PHOTOS: The April 29 protest at VCU
Some students reported not hearing the warnings above the crowd’s noise. Others reported feeling confused about messaging from the university about what was happening.
Minutes before the first warning was made, a VCU email alerted the campus community of a “public assembly” at the library and advised all to “avoid the area.” A near-identical alert was sent seven minutes later — with the addition of “police on scene.”
At no point did the April 29 alerts mention an unlawful assembly would be declared, had been declared or that arrests would be made if those gathered did not disperse.
In the immediate aftermath, responses from the school and local law enforcement were unclear about who ultimately declared the unlawful assembly.
While a VCU statement initially said RPD made the declaration, the Richmond Police Department referred a VPM News follow-up inquiry back to VCU. The RPD spokesperson also told VPM News he “didn’t have the exact time,” of the declaration, and a VCU spokesperson said that VCU Police “announced” the unlawful assembly.
This week, a VCU spokesperson told VPM News, “At 8:43 p.m., RPD advised VCU Police to declare the assembly unlawful. VCU Police then made the declaration to those assembled.”
As officers moved in to enforce the declaration, sirens originally installed because of the on-campus threat of mass shootings wailed. The law enforcement agencies each took on different roles. Richmond Police sprayed protesters with pepper spray, VCU Police corralled isolated protesters from the crowd and restrained them with cable ties.
According to VPM News reporting at the time, at least one visible Virginia State Police officer was directing officers to move in "slow and methodical." A few protesters were then led into the University Student Commons; state police denied VPM News access to see where they were being held.
Both Miyares and Youngkin claimed that protesters put “bear spray” into water bottles and threw them at police. That claim was repeated by Secretary of Public Safety Terry Cole at the September state Senate hearing and the deputy Secretary of Public Safety in November.
Bear spray is stored under intense pressure and can exit a can at 70 mph. The VCU incident report does not make the point-blank claim that bear spray was stored in water bottles and thrown at officers. It says, “These officers described experiencing these effects after being hit with paint or bottles of water.”
In two separate emails to VCU board members on May 1, Chelsea Gray — on behalf of Rector Todd Haymore — said that “VCU and our partners acted in the best interests of the university, students, faculty, and staff after showing great patience for more than 8 hours with the protesters” and added that Haymore was “hopeful that our response will put an end to any future unlawful or non-university policy compliant protests.”
'A lot of people think that we changed this policy for political reasons'
Hours after the April 29 protest, VCU administration temporarily altered its policy regarding large campus gatherings.
Students and staff received an email the following morning at 11:45 a.m. citing the existing policy for campus gatherings with an “expected attendance over 150.” Unauthorized events larger than that were prohibited without prior approval.
But hours later, the administration narrowed the definition of a major event to one with “more than 50 persons in attendance.” That directive was in place until May 28.
Emails offer a glimpse into how those edits came to be, but don’t clearly identify who decided to issue the directive. VCU withheld over 30 emails VPM News requested about the change, citing attorney-client privilege and scholastic records exemptions.
In an interview with VPM News about the policy changes, Student Affairs VP Aaron Hart said it was an administrative decision and didn’t clarify who specifically was involved in making it.
“We were just getting a lot of feedback from students in general that they wanted to study,” Hart said. “It was finals time, you know, things of that nature. And so, we just wanted to keep our students safe and well.”
As part of a host of interim policy updates that took effect a week before the start of the 2024 fall semester, a major event is once again classified as 150 students. Amplified sound is only allowed between noon and 1 p.m. on campus, along with some other restrictions on the time, manner and place of protests.
Hart said the university hopes to get feedback from students and faculty through a public comment period before putting a final policy in place by May 2025.
Though no changes were made to the policy between 2017 and 2024 — and despite the policy changing hours after the April 29 protest — Hart insists the changes were not made because of recent student protests. He said a 2023 on-campus incident got the university thinking about revising its space reservation policy — though no changes were made at the time.
“A lot of people think that we changed this policy for political reasons,” said Hart. “But we actually started working on this policy in spring of 2023, which was six months before any world events happened.”
While VCU officials maintain their policy changes weren’t enacted in direct response to anti-war protests on campus, other Virginia college officials have acknowledged the connection.
During the September state Senate hearing, Frances Keene, Student Affairs VP at Virginia Tech, said the spring’s events “further accentuated the need to update and clarify various aspects of our policies.”
She detailed several Virginia Tech policy changes that Keene said “reflect guidance received from the Commonwealth as well as best practices from peer institutions.” Those changes included a prohibition on camping and overnight campus events, and a requirement that masked individuals present a form of ID when questioned by a university agent, among others.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported in August that a Miyares memo influenced the policy changes at VCU. VPM News requested this memo from the OAG’s office, but was denied based on attorney-client privilege.
'They don't instill safety. They instill fear.'
VCU has not released an official statement on the student demands of divestment and calling for a ceasefire so far. Meanwhile, managers of the University of Virginia’s endowment recently announced they will not be divesting from any ties with Israel.
The national ACLU also recently issued a statement urging colleges to protect the rights of students to protest amid the policy changes.
UVA’s Board of Visitors also recently signed off on a statement of neutrality, meaning the school’s leadership won’t make public statements about sociopolitical events moving forward. It is the first Virginia institution to adopt a policy like this, though it’s trending nationally at other institutions.
“A lot of schools last year were making statements on the war in Gaza, one way or the other, often due to pressure from donors,” said Laura Beltz, director of policy reform at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression — a civil liberties group. “And so, now these colleges wouldn't be making statements on those issues at all.”
VCU isn’t the only public college in the commonwealth to update its protest and speech-related policies; at least 10 have made similar changes.
Common changes included banning encampments outright and requiring masked students to show proof of ID.
Though some changes differ from institution to institution: Virginia Tech does not allow messages to be written in chalk at all, while UVA allows it on all campus sidewalks.
Policy changes about amplified sound also varied; Virginia Tech barred all amplified sound Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., while VCU allows it from noon to 1 p.m. during weekday working hours. JMU set a decibel limit in its events policy.
VCU limits gatherings to 150 people, while Virginia Tech’s policy is more vague: “events must not attract a crowd larger than the location of the expressive activity can safely contain.”
Beltz said that vagueness could lead to inconsistent enforcement.
“Anytime you don't have a specific, objective sort of number to follow, that means that [colleges] may use their own subjective criteria when applying it,” she said “and that could lead to viewpoint discrimination if a particular administrator takes action against one group because of their speech, but not another.”
While university officials have claimed the new or interim policies are intended to uphold the free speech rights of all students, some like Haddad feel they were specifically tailored to silence protesters.
“They try to frame it as a way of making students more safe,” Haddad said. “But if anything, they don't instill safety. They instill fear.”
Editor’s note: The number of Palestinians killed and injured in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, is contested data. The Ministry of Health in Gaza said in mid-November 2024 more than 45,000 have died and over 105,000 have been injured, but this may be an undercount amid the health care and emergency response systems’ destruction. According to the Associated Press, the Israeli government has claimed roughly 17,000 militants have been killed.
Multiple countries and a United Nations body have suggested Israel’s actions in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, constitute genocide. The Israeli government has rejected the accusations. Recently, the International Criminal Court issued warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense chief, and a Hamas leader named Ibrahim Al-Masri, on accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Questions about this article should be sent to Managing Editor Dawnthea M. Price Lisco and News Director Elliott Robinson.
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