SAM Law, a graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin, the United States, was one of roughly 80 people arrested and charged with criminal trespassing for protesting the war in Gaza on his campus at the end of April.
Someone had apparently read a dispersal order over a loudspeaker at that April 29 protest, Law said, citing his arrest affidavit, but he doesn't remember hearing one. "I was on my own campus exercising my right to speak."
US universities have been rocked by waves of anti-war protests, with police and protesters clashing at times and questions raised over forceful methods used to disperse the rallies and encampments.
On Law's campus, officers clad in riot gear and mounted on horseback swept away demonstrations in late April, arresting dozens of people days before the graduate student was himself arrested.
Now many students fear they will be penalised academically or even professionally as they prepare to enter the workforce or return to classes in coming months.
Law and those arrested with him had their criminal trespass charges dropped, but now they face the prospect of disciplinary action from the university itself.
They have received messages from college authorities asking them why they didn't disperse, if they agreed their conduct on the day was disruptive, and what they would tell a fellow student "who had their lives or education negatively impacted by your conduct", according to emailed questions seen by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Some face the prospect of disciplinary action like probation or suspension.
Dylan Saba, a staff attorney with Palestine Legal, said the advocacy group responded to more than 1,000 requests for help between Oct 7 — when Hamas stormed into Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 250 hostage, according to Israeli figures — and the end of last year.
"Key among them are doxxing in relation to pro-Palestine advocacy and expression, disciplinary actions and charges from universities, and then also issues of employment discrimination."
Law found himself a target of doxxing, the malicious posting of personal information, after his image ended up online.
"I was sort of soft-doxxed where a lot of random right-wing Twitter accounts were just like, 'this is Sam Law. He's a graduate student at University of Texas. Do you support this pro-Hamas graduate student studying in your department? We need answers.' That kind of thing."
At the same time, Jewish students and faculty members have been dealing with anti-Semitic abuse and discrimination as Israel's offensive on Gaza has continued.
In response to the Hamas raid, Israel launched a military offensive in the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 38,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.
"There are students who have told us that they are planning to transfer or who have transferred out of their universities because of anti-Semitism," said Kenneth Marcus, founder and chairman of the nonprofit Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, a Jewish rights advocacy group that has filed a number of civil rights complaints against universities since Oct 7.
The nationwide campus protests have led to more than 3,000 arrests in recent months.
Saba said the situation on campuses could be a watershed moment for the pro-Palestinian movement.
"The disciplinary actions are happening on such a wide scale and in such a public fashion that I do think that a lot of people recognise this as a major political, cultural moment."
The University of Texas at Austin confirmed it had issued disciplinary notices to students for rule violations but a spokesperson said it does not administer "professional or academic consequences" for protesting.
"The actions and stated intentions of those participating (on April 24 and 29) stand in stark contrast to no fewer than 13 previous pro-Palestinian free speech events on our campus since October, which took place largely without incident," the university said.
Corey Saylor, research and advocacy director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the most recent iteration of Islamophobia amid the protests has been different from previous waves.
"It has standouts to it that we haven't seen before. One of them is doxxing and targeting of students, and the same with employees.
"And with employees, what we've seen is people will go to a pro-Palestine rally and then get called into HR (human resources) two days later."
The writer is from Reuters