It’s Wednesday, June 12.
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Good morning, readers.
Hashem Amireh, a Jordanian-Palestinian PhD student at UNC Chapel Hill and president of the graduate student union, is the first student to publicly identify himself as having been suspended by UNC in connection with the pro-Palestine demonstrations on campus this spring.
Online and in our new print issue today is a Q&A with Amireh, who is now banned from campus.
For legal reasons, Amireh can’t currently get into the details of what the university is alleging as grounds for his suspension. He told the INDY that he has “not been charged with any criminal offenses” and that he believes “UNC is using false allegations against me in order to silence me as a prominent Palestinian voice advocating for Palestinian liberation on campus.” (In an email to the INDY, a UNC spokesperson wrote that “federal privacy laws prevent disclosure about conduct cases.”)
But Amireh did talk about many other things, including the mechanics of the student movement, the context around photos that the INDY and the News & Observer published that show him in an altercation with a counter-protester, and his thoughts on how UNC administrators have justified the university’s response to the encampment and protests.
The university has not publicly announced that it suspended any student protesters, though hundreds of faculty members signed a petition last month urging administrators to drop protest-related disciplinary charges against 15 students.
Amireh says university officials will decide whether to revoke or sustain his suspension at an upcoming hearing.
Have a good Wednesday.
—Lena
Durham
Schools and teachers won big in Durham County’s newly passed budget. County commissioner Brenda Howerton, who was the sole vote against adoption of the budget, worries about the burden on low-income residents with its property tax increase.
Tiny homes are sprouting up in Durham backyards.
Wake
With new renovations, the Pope House Museum in Raleigh, an important part of the city’s Black history, will be able to support more visitors.
The Town of Apex will showcase high school students’ artwork at its annual Juneteenth in the Peak festival.
Orange
Hillsborough residents came together to reflect on desegregation and civil rights this week.
North Carolina
The controversial anti-masking bill, which now has a campaign finance component to it, is headed to Gov. Cooper’s desk.
Builders unearthed a significant Native American archaeological site in Carteret County—but lawmakers want to help develop it.
Today’s weather
Sunny with a high of 88 degrees.
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