OCT. 7, 2023
Students begin painting the Spirit Rocks to show support for Israel or Palestine.
Gregory Binu | Courtesy 
Gregory Binu | Courtesy NOV. 20, 2023
Student Affairs removed the Spirit Rocks for platforming “extended political discourse.”
André Averion | Courtesy OCT. 2023 – MARCH 2024
Students regularly protest on campus in support of a ceasefire in Gaza and call on UTD to divest from weapons manufacturers arming Israel. Students for Justice in Palestine organizes most protests.
Gregory Binu | Courtesy 
Gregory Binu | Courtesy MARCH 27, 2024
Gov. Greg Abbott signs executive order GA44, which restricts campus free speech to combat antisemitism and singles out campus groups like SJP as antisemitic.
Office of the Texas Governor | Courtesy APRIL 23, 2024
After a seven-hour sit-in demonstration in the Administration Building representatives from Students for Justice in Palestine initially agreed to a meeting with UTD’s Cabinet of the President to discuss the concerns of Palestinian students.
Retrograde Staff APRIL 26, 2024
SJP refused the meeting because administration was also meeting with groups SJP considered Zionist, and delivered a letter to then-president Richard Benson instead.
Retrograde Staff MAY 1, 2024
Students organize an encampment in the middle of Chess Plaza in support of Palestine.
Gregory Binu | Courtesy 
Anika Sultana | Retrograde Staff 
Shreya Ravi | Retrograde Staff 
Gregory Binu | Courtesy 
Retrograde Staff
Law enforcement raids the encampment 12 hours after its construction, arresting 21 students, faculty and community members.
Retrograde Staff 
Anika Sultana | Retrograde Staff 
Retrograde Staff
Protesters gather outside Collin County Jail to demand the release of the “UTD 21.”
Anika Sultana | Retrograde Staff MAY 2, 2024
The “UTD 21” are gradually released from Collin County Jail throughout the day.
Anika Sultana | Retrograde Staff MAY 20, 2024
The Mercury prints a special issue reporting on the encampment, arrests and aftermath.
JUNE 26, 2024
One of the “UTD 21,” a student, is arrested again at his own graduation after displaying a Palestine flag in an act of protest.
JULY 2024
The Mercury fundraises over $3,000 to purchase public records from UTD related to how administration handled the encampment.
Anika Sultana | Retrograde Staff JULY and AUG. 2024
The “UTD 21” students face deferred suspension and denial of degree because of their arrests. UTD continues pursuing legal charges.
Anika Sultana | Retrograde Staff SEP. 2024
UTD administration fires The Mercury’s Editor-in-Chief as retaliation for reporting on the encampment and its aftermath. The Mercury’s entire staff goes on strike and forms a new publication, The Retrograde, independent from the university.
APRIL 24, 2025
14 of the “UTD 21” are indicted for obstruction of a passageway, beginning the prosecution process. The remaining seven are no-billed, meaning they are not currently being prosecuted.
AUG. 3, 2025
Ali Asgar Alibhai, one of the “UTD 21” professors, sues UTD for his arrest and the school’s allegedly discriminatory treatment of him after the fact.
Retrograde Staff
