Charlottesville, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) –The ongoing situation involving University of Virginia students arrested during the May 4th protests was highlighted in a discussion with Assistant Professor Laura Goldblatt. She provided updates on the sanctions these students face and the significant impact on their academic and professional futures. 

“At the start of the summer, there were a group of students who had no trespass orders from the University of Virginia, which meant that they couldn’t go to grounds to collect their things. Some of them had phones and laptops that were being held by the university, so they were unable to complete their finances or their finals,” Goldblatt explained. 

As of now, most criminal charges have been or will be dropped by the end of summer, but five students still await University Judicial Committee (UJC) trials on September 15th. Two of these students are having their degrees withheld, affecting their career prospects. “Because they don’t have their degree… they are functionally locked out of those jobs. And so, it means that their future career, their prospects right now is just on hold,” Goldblatt emphasized. 

Despite calls for transparency, Goldblatt noted that the UVA administration has been resistant to independent reviews and has offered little explanation for their decisions regarding the students’ cases. 

Listen to the full conversation here: