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USF has threatened a student organization, Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society, with arrest for trespassing on their own campus when trying to protest the school’s budget cuts. However, USF has also hosted various white supremacists and hate groups without a second thought- meaning that this threat is blatant political repression. USF’s claim that SDS violates COVID regulations also holds no water since the school regularly hosts football games, art exhibitions, and has condensed dorms so that students can’t effectively quarantine.  

On August 19, the USF Board of Trustees met to discuss impending budget cuts due to COVID-19. They agreed to cut 36.7 million dollars from the school's budget- but it's coming from student services (such as accessibility), financial aid, research grants, student health services, teacher salaries/hazard pay, and full-time positions. In the middle of a pandemic, cutting these things is extremely irresponsible.

One of the things they agreed to cut was the College of Education's undergraduate program WITHOUT consulting the community- another irresponsible move, considering Pinellas and Hillsborough county are already at a shortage of teachers. The professors in the undergraduate program would more than likely lose their jobs as well. Local news outlets were informed of the removal of the college before the students in the program, showcasing their disregard for its students and the surrounding area.

Another notable point is that they won't cut USFPD. They have a budget of 7 million dollars, which is going to waste since there are fewer students on campus than ever before. They show up late to crime scenes, only solve around 33% of all reported theft, ignore sexual assault cases and give no reparation to the victims, and harass students of color regularly. Plus, cutting the College of Education nets the university 6.8 million dollars, showing that they can find the money somewhere in the budget. USF has shown that it would rather outfit its police department with tanks, assault rifles, and armored vests than invest in the future of the surrounding community.

USF is also one out of three schools founded within the last 65 years to successfully raise a billion dollars in a single campaign, showing that they are completely capable of finding the money somewhere in the community- they are just choosing not to.

When Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society wanted to protest these cuts, they were threatened with arrest for trespassing on their own campus by the Dean of Students, Danielle McDonald, and given an interim suspension on the grounds of violating COVID regulations. This is an act of blatant political repression, since USF has housed known white supremacist Kaitlyn Bennett, anti-abortion protestors, and allowed other students to level slurs at the group- and none of them were given any consequences, under the guise of "free speech". It also has no basis for these charges since USF regularly hosts football games, art exhibitions, and other for-profit events that don't enforce mask-wearing and social distancing- showing that USF values profit over the well-being of its students.

Signing this petition will help us gauge how much people care about this issue, and Tampa Bay SDS will continue to organize around this cause. A simple violation won't stop a movement.