The University of Washington has concluded conduct hearings for the “UW33," a group of students accused of occupying and damaging the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building during a May 5, 2025, anti-Israel protest, finding them responsible for violations and lifting their suspensions, JNS reports.
The demonstration, organized by Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return (SUPER), demanded the university cut ties with Boeing over its dealings with Israel. University officials said the protest caused roughly $1 million in damage to the Seattle‑campus building.
The students were suspended pending the outcome of the conduct process, which has now been completed, university spokesperson Victor Balta told JNS on Monday.
“The students have been found responsible for violations of the student conduct code and held accountable," Balta said. “The students were out of class and banned from campus for three quarters."
Balta noted that “SUPER is not a recognized student organization and does not enjoy the benefits" of such status.
SUPER UW celebrated the end of the suspensions, saying in a social media post that “despite seven charges being used to justify the initial issuing of their suspensions, the conduct proceeding found students ‘guilty’ of only two minor violations."
The group added, “Nothing justifies eight months of suspensions, loss of jobs, housing and community on campus, the police brutality sustained and the $200,000+ lost/repaid to UW."
SUPER UW said the total owed “amounts to over $60,000, collectively," urging supporters to contact the university and donate to a GoFundMe. The group announced plans for a celebration for the returning students, concluding with the message: “Long live the student intifada."
Balta told JNS that the suspensions resulted in forfeiture or repayment of tuition for students who needed to remain in good standing to receive financial aid, including graduate tuition‑exemption grants and work‑study programs.
The anti-Israel protest at the University of Washington was one of many that have taken place in campuses across the US since the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre in southern Israel and the war in Gaza which followed.
University of Washington-Seattle is one of 60 institutions of higher learning that were warned last year by the US Department of Education that they could lose federal funding over their handling of antisemitic incidents on campus.