Breaking News: UCLA Indefinitely Suspends and Bans Three Students ahead of disciplinary hearings

LOS ANGELES —  Shortly before 5 p.m. today, UCLA notified one graduate and two undergraduate students that they have been issued an immediate and indefinite interim suspension and ban from campus. No disciplinary hearing was held. 

One day after Chancellor Julio Frenk’s inauguration and campuswide email declarations on how UCLA must aspire to be a university that is “connective,” “impactful,” and “exemplary,” modeling “kindness and mutual respect,” his first act was to deny due process and prevent three students from completing the quarter, less than a week from the end of the academic year. UCLA has had open investigations against these students for months and could have imposed these sanctions at any time during the quarter but has instead chosen to do so the week before finals. This choice will prevent the students from taking exams and earning course credit for the classes they have attended all quarter.  

In the Office of Student Conduct notifications of suspension, the three students received a list of various alleged violations, ranging in occurrence from as recent as last month to as long ago as Spring 2024. The three students can (and likely will) appeal the “Interim Suspension and Exclusion” via a special hearing with Dean of Students Jasmine Rush, who would “review the necessity of the interim suspension.” Unlike other discipline cases reported on earlier this week which have almost all solely been based on a protest-related arrest, one of the students – a former signatory of SJP – has no arrest record whatsoever. 

One student currently living in a dorm has lost access to their housing due to the suspension. UCLA has given this student no grace period to make other housing arrangements before vacating the room. 

Another of the suspended students is Dylan Kupsh, who recently won a courtroom battle against UC Regent Jay Sures. Sures sought to file a restraining order against Kupsh, but the case was dismissed on the grounds that Sures filed the lawsuit to try to prevent Kupsh from exercising his First Amendment rights. Given the timing of this suspension and the fact that Kupsh has not been arrested this academic year, he believes the suspension may be retaliation. UCLA administrators declined to respond upon request to comment. 

 If these three students lose an appeal to the interim suspension, the suspensions will potentially only end when UCLA decides to grant them disciplinary hearings, and a committee is given the opportunity to hear the case. Given that more than half of the disciplinary hearings against students arrested last spring are still unresolved, these students could be suspended without an opportunity to defend themselves for a year or more. 

For the duration of the suspension, these three students will be barred from coming to campus, enroll or obtain transcripts, as well as attend off-campus UCLA events or activities. Additionally, students will not be able to enter any university-owned, -operated or -leased buildings. Earlier today CNN reported that the Trump administration is identifying grants to withhold from California, “considering a full termination of federal grant funding for the University of California and California State University systems.” Despite Frenk’s rhetoric that he intends to defend the university, his actions – including today’s student suspensions – suggest he is opting for anticipatory obedience.