10,000 sign petition to stop UQ ‘silencing’ student Drew Pavlou
A University of Queensland student who faces expulsion after he criticised the university’s ties with China has told his supporters he’s received a 200-page booklet outlining the uni’s complaints against him.
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MORE than 10,000 people have signed an online petition in a bid to stop Queensland’s top university from “silencing” a student who advocates against the university’s ties with China.
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University of Queensland student activist and student-elected member of the UQ senate Drew Pavlou, who faces a disciplinary hearing later this month which could lead to expulsion, thanked the 10,475 people who had signed the change.org petition.
“Thank you to the ten thousand people who have signed the petition against UQ’s attempt to expel me for my political activism in support of Hong Kong … unbelievable,” he wrote on social media late yesterday.
This week he told followers “with a heavy heart” that the University of Queensland would be “considering his expulsion on April 27th before a misconduct hearing”.
“I received a confidential 200 page booklet of allegations against me, many involving complaints about my public criticisms of the Vice-Chancellor, the growing corporatisation of the university, as well as my criticism of the university’s links to the Chinese Communist Part and my support for Hong Kong.”
He said in addition to core complaints, they included “frivolous complaints” regarding “satirical online posts”.
“It is my belief that such vexatious complaints mask the true nature of the hearing, an attempt to punish me for publicly airing my political beliefs and challenging the university’s unethical dealings with corporations as well as dictatorships like the Chinese state.”
A UQ spokeswoman said the university rejected Mr Pavlou’s statement that UQ was attempting to penalise him for airing his political beliefs.
“Universities reasonably expect that students comply with conduct policies and charters that reflect both the organisation’s values and community expectations,” she said.
“UQ’s disciplinary processes seek to address alleged contraventions of University policy – they do not seek to prevent students from expressing their views or to limit their right to freedom of speech.
“It would not be appropriate for the University to comment on the specifics of this disciplinary matter.”
Appearing on Sky News with Chris Smith on Thursday night, Mr Palvou said UQ had not supported his right to speak out for the Hong Kong students.
“When I first led a rally back in July 2019 I was assaulted on campus by supporters of the Chinese Government,” he said.
“The university’s response was not to protect me or my right to free speech, unfortunately they tried to stop further protests I was holding; there were numerous threats against my enrolment.”
Mr Pavlou said as a member of the student-elected university senate, his campaigns were in support of the 900 students from Hong Kong, but the university took them as threats.
“I was condemning these attacks on Chinese protesters and UQ has come out and said that threatens the reputation of the university,” he said.
“Me making a statement supporting humanitarian goals, supporting the protestors, that’s considered a threat to the university’s reputation.”
Originally published as 10,000 sign petition to stop UQ ‘silencing’ student Drew Pavlou