When six students with the SLO Peace Coalition protested funding coming into Cal Poly from defense contractors, they did not expect to be silenced by the university.
But they have not lost their voice.
According to university spokesperson Matt Lazier, the University’s Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities (OSRR) conducted a requisite review of the matter. They determined that a full investigation was not warranted after finding insufficient evidence that violations of the student conduct code had occurred.
The anti-war demonstration was held for 15 minutes during the Cal Poly Career Fair in April. The students displayed a banner encouraging onlookers to “Divest from War.” The banner hung parallel to the Raytheon career fair booth as students audibly pleaded to end the use of “war money.” The group also distributed flyers on which their viewpoints were outlined.
After the peaceful protest, one of the student protesters received an email from OSRR stating that the students had violated the University’s Student Code of Conduct for holding an unpermitted sign and willfully disrupting university business.
After the OSRR issued its email to the students, the SLO Peace Coalition circulated a petition to to stop its investigation.
The petition garnered over 3,400 signatures in just two weeks and encouraged students and community members to join forces to “create a more peaceful campus.” It is unknown if the petition influenced the OSRR’s decision to drop the investigation.