Samuel Tunick was six hours from teaching his first lab at Georgia State University when an automated email revoked his Teaching Assistant job offer over a background check. Tunick, an incoming graduate student and Stop Cop City organizer, is fighting a pending criminal charge tied to a January 2025 airport search of his phone — a charge he has pleaded not guilty to.

When Tunick's department head pushed the university for details, she learned there is no written policy behind the call. "I was told that the 'Background Check Committee' denied the approval for your hire, the Dean of Students denied the approval, and the legal department denied your approval," according to an email Tunick shared with 404 Media. Tunick calls the decision "an instance of textbook political repression, and a high profile civil liberties case."

The move cost Tunick both his income and the tuition waiver tied to his graduate studies, putting his degree at risk over a single unresolved charge. A pending charge is not a conviction, and no student or campus organizer should lose their livelihood and education to an unexplained, case-by-case decision with no policy behind it.

Georgia State University should reinstate Samuel Tunick's Teaching Assistant position and tuition waiver, and commit to a transparent, written hiring policy that treats students as innocent until proven guilty. Sign the petition to demand Georgia State reverse this decision before another student pays the price for exercising their rights.