A crowd of students walked out of their afternoon classes at UNC Chapel Hill’s law school and marched across campus to the chancellor’s office shouting, “If Jamie’s not in class, we are not in class!” and “Bogus charges! Bogus ban!”
Students say university officials have banned their classmate Jamie Marsicano, a second-year law student, from attending class in-person after being arrested at a protest in Georgia last month.
Police and environmental activists in Atlanta clashed over the construction of a police training center that protesters call “Cop City.” According to the Atlanta Police Department, 23 people were arrested and charged with domestic terrorism in connection with the protests, including Marsicano.
Police say activists threw Molotov cocktails and rocks at police guarding the construction site and destroyed construction equipment. Activists and friends of those charged say they were arrested at a music festival far from the construction site. Under a Georgia law passed in 2017, a protester can be charged with domestic terrorism for damage to infrastructure.
A judge released Marsicano on bail. Afterward, she was surprised to learn she wouldn’t be able to return to classes.
“The university has banned Jamie from campus based upon the fact that she has been charged even though she has not been found guilty,” said Meghan Rankins, a friend and fellow law student who led the walkout. “I may add in law school, we're taught that there's a tenet of our justice [system] where you're presumed innocent until you're found guilty.”
The university's Emergency Evaluation and Action Committee reviews cases of students who may pose a danger to campus, and can suspend or expel students charged with a serious crime of a “violent or dangerous nature.” University officials have declined to confirm any disciplinary action taken against Marsicano, citing a federal student privacy law. The university’s media relations department has also declined to say whether students have ever been prohibited from attending classes under the policy before.
More than 500 students and faculty have signed a petition asking for Marsicano to be allowed to return, and more than 50 students and professors submitted letters of support.
“A judge decided that Jamie was not a danger to the community or any community, and so that feels to me sufficient that UNC should let them come back to campus,” said Marsicano’s friend Amber Knepper.
Marsicano may have to wait months for the legal case to be resolved to return to campus. Students say in the meantime, Marsicano has remained enrolled and, with the support of law professors, has been able to view live streamed videos of her classes.