UVA Dissenters Test Limits of the Permissible
by James A. Bacon
More than 60 employers showed up to the University of Virginia’s 2024 job fair on Oct. 23 to offer job and internship opportunities to UVA students. They were greeted civilly by most — but not by everyone. The Dissenters, a militant pro-Palestinian student organization, targeted companies deemed complicit with Israel.
The Dissenters set up a table outside Newcomb Hall. “Will You Work for Murderers?” proclaimed a banner as activists handed out literature and talked to passers-by.
Activists have the right to free speech like everyone else. What they don’t have a right to do is disrupt the activity of students looking for employment opportunities. Dissenters submitted fake resumes and promised a $20 reward to students who could waste the attention of corporate recruiters for the greatest length of time.
Pro-Palestinian groups have been unable to mobilize UVA students for the same kind of large demonstrations that defined the spring semester, which ended with the Encampment for Gaza, confrontation with authorities, and numerous trespassing arrests.
The university community does not seem to be as engaged in the Hamas-Israel conflict this fall, a student who monitors the activities of radical campus groups tells The Jefferson Council. A case in point: last spring a dozen or more residents of the Lawn displayed their sympathy for the Palestinian cause on their doors. Only two or three signs are visible now.
The presidential election consumed everyone’s attention this fall. The election of Donald Trump pushed many students into despair and passivity. Some professors canceled class, while the administration offered “individual support sessions” and comfort animals to students whose psychological wellbeing was threatened.
Undeterred by the decline in militancy during the run-up to the election, the Dissenters stayed busy. They organized a march on Madison Hall (the office of President Jim Ryan), although the numbers were much diminished compared to the spring demonstrations. More recently, they displayed a pro-Palestinian banner in Shannon Library.
Their primary target in the job fair was General Dynamics, a Fortune 500 defense contractor that was offering full-time internships at its Northern Virginia information technology facility.
Left-wing groups at UVA and other university campuses have accused American defense companies of complicity in the loss of tens of thousands of civilian lives at the hands of the Israeli military and have called for universities to divest their endowments of U.S. defense companies.
In September student militants disrupted a job fair at Cornell University by surrounding the Boeing booth and sounding off with chants, cymbals, drums and bells. Demonstrators tore off the decorative plastic tablecloth and replaced it with a letter titled “People’s Court Indictment of War Crimes and Genocide.” Police had to intervene to contain the demonstration.
The UVA Dissenters were less confrontational. They encouraged students with no desire to work for General Dynamics to tie up interviewers’ time. Offering a $20 award to the winner, the group highlighted on Instagram new records set for time spent.
They also printed satirical resumes for students to submit. Some excerpts:
Name: General Dynamics Hater.
Experience: Palestine / Investigator of Active Harm
Skills: Recognizing that General Dynamics and other weapons manufacturing companies directly profit off the genocide of the Palestinian people.
Education: University of Virginia / Anti Apartheid
Satirical resumes may not be disruptive, but monopolizing recruiters’ time with insincere conversation arguably is a violation of the UVA Standards of Conduct which specifically forbid (my italics):
“Intentional disruption or obstruction of teaching, research, administration, disciplinary procedures, other University activities, or activities authorized to take place on University property.”
The UVA Dissenters are cleverer than their Cornell counterparts whose confrontational tactics are indisputably disruptive. UVA’s radicals find the gray area in the University’s Standards of Conduct and dare the administration to draw a red line, which, as seen in demands for investigation into the dismantling of the pro-Palestinian encampment last spring, can be turned into a local cause célèbre.
Our source, who observed the proceedings for about an hour, saw no evidence that the UVA administration reacted to the Dissenters’ disruption of the General Dynamics recruitment effort. The Dissenters Instagram account, which trumpets what it sees as oppressive administration actions, has registered no statements of indignation. We could not determine if any student seeking a meeting with the defense contractor was unable to get one.
In the meantime, the apparent lack of an administrative response sets a new precedent of permissible behavior. Expect the Dissenters to test the limits of the Standards of Conduct more aggressively next time.
James A. Bacon is contributing editor to The Jefferson Council.
