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Georgia committee hears bill to strip state aid for students convicted of violent or disruptive campus conduct
Summary
At a House Higher Education Committee hearing, supporters said HB 602 would protect students’ right to learn; opponents, including students and faculty, said the bill’s broad language risks chilling protected protest and could disproportionately harm low-income students.
At a hearing of the House Higher Education Committee, lawmakers and dozens of students, faculty and community advocates heard testimony on House Bill 602, legislation that would allow the state to deny scholarships, grants or loans for up to two years to students convicted of, or found through an institution's disciplinary process to have committed, violent, harassing or materially disruptive conduct on college campuses.
The bill's author, Representative Fleming, described HB 602 as aimed at protecting campus learning environments while preserving the right to peaceful protest. "This bill does not limit the effect or affect that right," Representative Fleming said, and "upholds the rights of students, faculty, and administrators on our college campuses to be free from the infringement of their rights to study and work." He told the committee the Student Finance Commission, the University System of Georgia (USG) and the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) would create an appeals process for any sanction.
Supporters of the bill argued it…
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