Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

City College Students Suspended After Protest to Be Reinstated

By Trevor Kapp | November 22, 2013 3:58pm
 City College students Tafadar Sourov and Khalil Vasquez were released without bail at their arraignments Tuesday morning.
City College Students Appear Before Judge
View Full Caption

HAMILTON HEIGHTS — The two City College student suspended since late October for their roles in a campus protest will not fight the school disciplinary charges against them as part of a deal that allows them to be reinstated next semester, their lawyer said Friday.

Sophomore Tafadar Sourov and senior Khalil Vasquez will remain suspended and receive no credits for the fall semester, their lawyer Ron McGuire said. They will, however, be reimbursed for tuition.

"The nature of the agreement is that they will be back in college next semester with no restrictions,” McGuire said.

Sourov, 19, and Vasquez, 22, were arrested after an Oct. 24 protest against the closure of the Guillermo Morales/Assata Shakur Student and Community Center. They were suspended four days later.

Sourov and Vasquez were charged with criminal mischief, obstructing governmental administration, riot, inciting to riot, attempted assault and harassment for their involvement in the incident, which left a CUNY employee injured.

The disciplinary charges they faced were not clear.

During the protest, a group of 100 students barged through the doors of the school building on Convent Avenue, according to the charges.

Both Sourov and Vasquez urged fellow students to pack the building, shouting, “Come on. Get in. Get in," a school security guard told prosecutors.

“They’re not admitting their guilt, but they’re not contesting the charges,” McGuire said. “They believe that they’d be facing enhanced penalties if they were found guilty.”

Sourov and Vasquez are due back in Manhattan Criminal Court Jan. 9.

City College did not respond to a request seeking comment.