Nearly a year later, Loyola students who joined pro-Palestine protests still face consequences

by Arielle Robinson, Verite, Louisiana Illuminator
March 16, 2025

NEW ORLEANS – Almost a year after hundreds of people occupied part of Tulane University’s campus, two of the Loyola University students who participated in a pro-Palestine encampment are facing consequences from their school.

Last month, Loyola suspended Carson Cruse from the university through May 10. He and Juleea Berthelot have been on disciplinary probation since June 2024. Cruse was slated to graduate from the university this spring but now has to delay his graduation to either December 2025 or May 2026, depending on when his required classes are offered. Berthelot, who has been on probation for most of the last year, told Verite News that they have to be cautious to not “mess up in the slightest” on or off campus to avoid facing further disciplinary action.

Cruse and Berthelot are members of Liberate and Unite New Orleans Students for a Democratic Society, formerly known as Loyola SDS until the group lost its registered student organization status with the university and voted to disband in October 2024. The current organization exists off campus, although it is composed of students from Loyola.

According to Loyola’s Student Code of Conduct, disciplinary probation is the “temporary suspension of a student or student organization’s good standing with the University” for a certain time period. Extra disciplinary actions can be given and once completed with the period of probation, a student or student organization is returned to good standing if they meet all probation terms.

Cruse and Berthelot are two of five students who Loyola disciplined last summer. They both said they received the harshest discipline from the school because administrators labeled them as leaders of the school’s SDS chapter, alleging that they played a lead role in organizing the Tulane encampment.

Disciplinary actions like the ones taken against Cruse and Berthelot, and against Tulane students who participated in the encampment protest, are being handed down to students at universities across the United States for staging and joining pro-Palestine protests on campus. This past weekend, Columbia University pro-Palestine protester Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for his participation in a student encampment last spring. He is being held in a detention facility in Central Louisiana.

Khalil’s case is a high-profile example of the consequences student protesters have faced in recent months.

Free speech advocates say that the arrests and disciplinary actions taken against student protesters violate their First Amendment rights, while pro-Israel advocates have claimed the protests threatened the safety of Jewish students.

Cruse said he was suspended after speaking at a Port of New Orleans board meeting last October, in which he said he was speaking on behalf of “Loyola SDS,” which had lost its status as a university-registered student group by then. Cruse told Verite News that he meant to say he was with the new organization he and schoolmates created after they disbanded as a university group, and that his incorrect naming of the group was “simply a slip of the tongue.”

He was there with other pro-Palestine activists in the city, including New Orleans Stop Helping Israel’s Ports, urging the port to cut its ties to Israel. He alleged that Port NOLA board secretary-treasurer Sharonda Williams, who is also Loyola’s general counsel, reported him to the university for allegedly promoting an unregistered student organization. Such an act is in violation of the university’s student organization handbook.

A Loyola spokesperson confirmed that Williams is general counsel but denied that she is a part of the administrative hearings, appeals process, decisions made or sanctions handed down. Williams told Verite News to refer to the information sent from the spokesperson.

Loyola administrators then escalated Cruse’s disciplinary probation — which stemmed from his participation in the late April 2024 encampment — to a suspension in December, at the end of the semester. Cruse appealed the decision.

He said he was banned from Loyola’s campus over winter break, but that he was allowed to come back the following semester and attend classes until the student conduct department decided on his appeal.

Finally, in February, Loyola notified Cruse that his appeal was rejected and that he would remain suspended through the end of the spring 2025 semester.

Cruse said he was removed from his classes and banned from the campus.

“I had already done two months of schoolwork, from January to February,” Cruse said.

As a result of the suspension, Cruse also lost his job working the front desk of the school’s counseling center that he has had since his freshman year. He said he has had to pick up more hours at his off-campus job at a brewery.

The school put Berthelot on probation through May 16.

The university accused both of disruptive conduct and failure to comply with administrative instruction because of their involvement in the encampment. The university report cites Berthelot’s May 2024 arrest at the encampment for misdemeanor trespassing as proof that Berthelot failed to comply.

Cruse was also part of the group arrested. Both students were found not guilty in September 2024.

The university also rejected Berthelot’s appeal of their probation. Berthelot said probation meant that they cannot officially hold leadership positions in recognized student organizations and study abroad.

Berthelot said probation has meant being unable to accept a student award they received last year and running for student government.

“I pay a lot of money to go to Loyola, and I really loved it and enjoyed it my first two years,” Berthelot said. “But the way that they handle students and … dissenting opinions, it’s really upsetting and jarring.”

They were able to keep their current on-campus research assistant job and attend classes, but they allege that they were fired from their previous job giving tours of the campus for participating in the encampment. Loyola denied this at the time, saying Berthelot resigned. Berthelot maintains that they were fired.

In a response from Loyola, the university told Verite News that federal student privacy law prevents the school from commenting on specific student cases.

A university spokesperson did provide information about how the cases are handled and said that every student has the right to appeal conduct decisions.

The university also noted that Loyola SDS voluntarily dissolved and that the school is “committed to ensuring that all students feel safe expressing their perspectives on campus.”

Loyola’s disciplinary actions run parallel to those taken by Tulane last year. The university disciplined seven students, among them former Tulane SDS members Rory Macdonald and Maya Sanchez, also labeling them as encampment organizers. Tulane officially suspended Tulane SDS; students have continued to run the group off-campus as Together United Students for a Democratic Society.

Macdonald told Verite News at the time that Tulane used pictures of them at previous protests and their arrest from the encampment against them. Cruse said Loyola used pictures of him and Berthelot at the encampment against them.

Both Cruse and Berthelot said they think Loyola is trying to make an example out of them.

“I think that I’m a fine person to make an example of,” Cruse said. “I was helping lead this movement.”

Berthelot believes the university is trying to alienate them from the students “so that we can’t inspire them, encourage them to fight back,” they said.

Berthelot said that being on probation has meant watching every step they take and constantly worrying about messing up for fear of further discipline.

“I feel like it’s psychological terrorism, like I’m constantly worried about every step I take, everything I say,” Berthelot said. “No student should have to fear the university like that. I’m speaking up for what I believe is right.”

Berthelot also said it was very upsetting seeing Cruse, a friend, be suspended.

Cruse said that he wants to go back to school at Loyola and finish his degree. He said it doesn’t make sense to try and transfer elsewhere because of all the credits he has. But he also won’t let his suspension stop him from standing up for the things he believes in.

“It’s kind of my main purpose in life, honestly,” he said. “I want to serve the people.”

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