TAMPA, Fla. — Nearly a month after four protestors were arrested at USF for demanding increased diversity efforts on campus, another student is facing charges.
The school has released statements saying the protestors were violent toward university police officers and didn’t follow orders, while those arrested say, they were peacefully protesting on a public campus.
Gia Davila is just one of three USF students who have been charged, and with criminal charges filed and expulsion on the table, the senior is wondering if she’ll even be able to graduate this spring.
“It’s truly heartbreaking that a university that I’ve put so much time and money into could do this to me,” Davila said. “We want to see a better university. These policies that are pushed through, they affect students.”
Davila is referring to policies in HB999, a proposed legislation that would impact diversity education at Florida universities, including removing any programs that are based on or utilize Critical Race Theory.
While four protestors were arrested on March 6, USF student Lauren Pineiro says she was notified about a month later that she would be facing charges and disciplinary action as well.
“The fact that they charged me so much later shows that this is political and they’re trying to repress our voices,” Pineiro said.
Voices that these protestors say won’t be silenced.
“A person’s time should be spent standing up for what’s right,” said Chrisley Carpio, a USF employee who was arrested while protesting that day. Carpio says she has been placed on paid administrative leave, getting help from her union representative to fight for her job.
Laura Rodriguez, a USF alum who was also arrested on March 6, says the changes proposed in HB999 would have an impact far beyond the boundaries of campus.
“Whatever affects the school, affects the community that it resides in,” she said. “Standing up for diversity, standing up for DEI is what’s helpful to the Tampa community.”