- Aidan O’ Neill’s, a junior at UMass Amherst, and two other students, had their eligibility to study abroad revoked after their involvement in an Oct. 25 protest
- After refusing police orders to exit a closed building, 56 students, including O’Neill, were arrested for trespassing, and then placed on disciplinary probation
- The protest demanded UMass sever ties with defense contractor Raytheon Technologies, a producer of missile components for Israel ‘s Iron Dome
A University of Massachusetts Amherst student is facing a sudden setback in his plans to study abroad in Spain after taking part in an anti-Israel sit-in on campus and defying police officers’ orders to leave.
Aidan O’ Neill, a junior at UMass Amherst, along with two other students, had their eligibility to study abroad revoked after their involvement in an Oct. 25 protest supporting Palestinians led to arrests and disciplinary probation.
After refusing police orders to leave the building when it closed at 6 pm, 56 students, including O’Neill, and one staff member were arrested for trespassing, and then placed on disciplinary probation until the end of the spring semester.
O’Neill’s study abroad eligibility was then revoked as he had signed an agreement that prohibits students from participating in the program if they have pending legal or disciplinary actions or are on academic probation.
The initial protest on Oct. 25 involved 500 students demanding UMass sever ties with defense contractor Raytheon Technologies, a producer of missile components for Israel’s Iron Dome.
The Iron Dome is an Israeli mobile all-weather air defense system that successfully intercepts upward of 90 percent of projectiles. Since Hamas’s unprovoked Oct. 7 massacre, more than 11,000 rockets have been fired toward Israel.
O’Neill, along with faculty members, are now fighting back – emphasizing the right to voice opposition to what they call the university’s alleged support for ‘genocide.’
‘To lose my abroad eligibility at the last second, that was just heartbreaking,’ O’Neill said to the Boston Globe. ‘I was practicing my right as a student to speak up against the university funding a genocide. It just seemed, honestly, crazy and absurd to me that the university was going that far to punish me.’
The students are arguing that their punishment is disproportionately severe due to their political views, despite the university claiming it is merely adhering to the established policies, irrespective of the protest’s content.
Faculty members, including Rachel Mordecai and Jason Moralee, have rallied behind O’Neill, denouncing the denial of his study abroad opportunity as an excessive penalty for ‘peaceful political expression.’
O’Neill ‘was participating in a peaceful expression of his political convictions,’ Rachel Mordecai, O’Neill’s faculty adviser said to the Boston Globe.
‘This denial of the opportunity to study abroad constitutes a disproportionate penalty for what Aidan participated in.
Mordecai wrote a letter in defense of O’Neill, signed by 23 other faculty members. The statement, obtained by the Globe, called O’Neill ‘an exceptionally successful and talented student.’
O’Neill was set to leave to Barcelona on Jan. 3 for his study abroad program, which he’d been planning since last spring. Now, the junior is staying in his hometown, Scituate, until next semester begins in the spring.
The students were told they were no longer eligible weeks before their trip, leaving them with thousands of dollars in fees and travel expenses. One student is now threatening to take legal action against the school.
Jason Moralee, the Associate Dean of Research and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion also advocated for O’Neill and the two other students by urging fellow administrators to swiftly clear them for study abroad.
Moralee highlighted that students with code of conduct violations, academic probation, or other issues are routinely permitted to study abroad.
He argued that students with clear records, like O’Neill’s, who engaged in protests should not be hindered in their eligibility to participate in the study abroad program.
‘Surely, peaceful protest done by exemplary students whose records are otherwise clear … is an offense that should not in itself prevent students from studying abroad,’ he said to the Globe.
But University spokesperson Ed Blaguszewski defended the IPO’s decision, stating that the decision aligns with the university’s past practices and the Student Agreement of Participation signed by each student.
‘To participate in a UMass Amherst study abroad program, students must be in good standing academically with the university and in compliance with the university’s Code of Student Conduct,’ he expressed in a statement to the Globe.
‘Consistent with the university’s past practice and the Student Agreement of Participation signed by each student, IPO revoked eligibility for these students to study abroad for the upcoming winter/spring terms.’
Contrary to the university’s stance, O’Neill and the other students argue that their disciplinary treatment deviates from past practices.
O’Neill and the other students, facing uncertainty, were informed of their inability to study abroad on the last day of the semester, leaving them in a state of limbo.
One student, represented by attorney Shahily ‘Shay’ Negrón, claims to be confronted with up to $20,000 in fees for the overseas program.
Negrón emphasized the emotional and financial toll the ordeal has taken on the student.
‘They have been extremely distraught,’ Negrón said to the Globe. ‘This entire ordeal has had a toll on my client emotionally [and] financially.’
UMass is ‘harming my client because she exercised her right to free speech,’ he added.
O’Neill said he is still considering participating in a study abroad program next year, when his probation clears.
‘If things had happened differently, I’d be in Barcelona right now, living with the host family and having the study abroad experience,’ he said to the Globe. ‘I feel really crushed by my university. I feel like they’ve just betrayed my trust for the last time.’