One University of New Mexico alumni and two students received different sanctions from the University following a June 6 pro-Palestine protest that took place during New Student Orientation.
Over the course of the summer, pro-Palestine protesters have held three demonstrations during NSO. Protesters have rallied and marched on campus, displayed painted fabric banners and distributed flyers to incoming students about their goals — including divestment from Israel and dropping the criminal charges against protesters arrested during the April 29-30 Student Union Building occupation.
Rakin Faruk, a recent alumni and president of UNM College Democrats, publicly spoke during the NSO protests. Faruk received a notice from the Office of the Dean of Students on June 20 stating she was “barred from campus” until June 20, 2026, and that violation could result in arrest for criminal trespass.
“Barred from campus” is the highest level of sanctioning for violations of any of the policies under Section 2: “Matters Subject to Disciplinary Action” of the UNM Visitor Code of Conduct.
The notice Faruk received reads that based on a complaint, she may have violated University Administrative Policy 2220: “Freedom of Expression and Dissent.” The complaint states that Faruk “directed an amplified sound device (a bullhorn) at (NSO) participants and followed NSO participants while chanting.”
“The only time that I encountered students, I was not following them. I was going up to them and offering flyers, and many of them held prolonged conversations with me,” Faruk said.
Activities protected under Policy 2220 include “speechmaking, praying, distribution of written materials, picketing, assembling in groups, demonstrating, sidewalk chalking, erecting symbolic structures and any other actual or symbolic speech or conduct intended to communicate an idea,” according to the UNM Policy Office website.
One of the students who received sanctions, sophomore Jillian Grandinetti, received an outcome agreement from the Office of the Dean of Students after an alleged violation of Policy 2220. The sanctions listed in the agreement include “Disciplinary Probation (with Conditions).” One of these conditions is an educational assignment, the agreement reads.
“They brought me in, went over my rights as a student in the disciplinary process … following that, they gave me the option of either doing an educational assignment or a hearing,” Grandinetti said.
Grandinetti and the other student who received sanctions – a former NSO leader, according to Grandinetti – also spoke using bullhorns at the June 6 NSO protest.
“Protecting freedom of expression is of central importance to the University … The way that ideas are expressed may cause discomfort to those who disagree with them. The appropriate response to such speech is speech expressing opposing ideas and continued dialogue, not curtailment of speech,” Policy 2220 reads.
A UNM Palestine Solidarity Camp Instagram post reads that the sanctions are “an attempt to silence pro-Palestinian voices on campus.”
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The UNM Office of the Dean of Students and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Cinnamon Blair provided the same statement to the Daily Lobo about the sanctions.
“The student process has established formal, documented procedures for investigating allegations, determining if violations occurred, and imposing appropriate sanctions. This helps ensure due process and consistent treatment of similar cases. Alumni are considered visitors under the visitor code of conduct. Any visitor who receives a ban notice for disrupting the educational environment has the opportunity to request a review,” the statement reads.
Faruk filed for an informal hearing with the Dean of Students office after receiving the notice, she said. On Monday, July 8, she received a response stating that the ban from campus would be upheld.
Eight members of the New Mexico House of Representatives – which Faruk collaborated with through College Democrats – wrote a letter to the Dean of Students office on July 9, urging them to “afford Ms. Faruk a fair hearing and the opportunity to present her perspective, particularly given the severity of the sanction imposed.”
Leadership at the Muslim Student Association at UNM also wrote and signed a letter to the Dean of Students office regarding Faruk’s sanctions.
“The severity of the sanction for the offense at hand (usage of a bullhorn) stands as an extreme, and it is important that when the University states freedom of speech must be protected, that includes the speech of our Muslim, POC students, faculty and alumni … to bar the single hijabi, Muslim protester (Faruk) at the June 6 demonstration can be viewed as an effort to shut out Muslim voices from campus entirely,” the letter reads.
Grandinetti was wearing a keffiyeh around her head during the June 6 protest, she said. This was specifically pointed out to her in a photo during her meeting with individuals from the Dean of Students office, according to Grandinetti.
“In this meeting, when these photos are being presented to me, the conduct officer points to a photo of the back of my head, and says, ‘We notice you, you're wearing your headscarf,’” Grandinetti said.
On Thursday, June 27, during the most recent pro-Palestine NSO demonstration, students, alumni and community members rallied and marched on campus. They chanted “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest” while NSO participants were gathered outside of Dane Smith Hall. Shortly after the chanting started, the incoming students were led inside Dane Smith Hall by UNM officials and a UNM Police Department officer.
“UNM knows my name and knows that I have been an active student in the community for many years. And so it's really hurtful that as soon as they realize that I am upset with where their morals stand and where their investments are staying, they made sure to go all the way and to just bar me from campus,” Faruk said.
Leila Chapa is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com
Paloma Chapa is the multimedia editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at multimedia@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @paloma_chapa88
Paloma Chapa is the multimedia editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at multimedia@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @paloma_chapa88
