University rector faces first defeat at the hands of USP students.
Student expelled for invading building lost his diploma and was unable to keep his job, but the court ruled that he should receive his teaching degree and diploma; all because Grandino Rodas punished the geographer based on a law made by the dictatorship; the rector will appeal.
247 – Coming from the world of law, former director of the Largo de S. Francisco Faculty, the rector of USP, João Grandino Rodas, did not share with his peers his decision to take university students to a technical court-martial: the São Paulo Justice system annulled the expulsion process, from USP, of the student Yves de Carvalho Souzedo.
Yves, a geography student, was accused by Rector Rodas of occupying part of the Social Assistance Superintendency building at USP in March 2010. The annulment by the Court of Justice was based on the student's main defense argument: that Yves was being punished based on USP's General Regulations, approved during the dictatorship. Yves was expelled from USP less than a week before his graduation ceremony. He was left without a diploma. Even with the Court of Justice's decision in favor of the student, the USP administration will appeal the decision.
The decision in favor of the student was made by Judge Alexandra Fuchs de Araújo. The ruling established that, even if the accusations against the student were true, the expulsion penalty violates the Principle of Proportionality. The student's expulsion could only have occurred, the judge determined, "after a repeat offense or with proof of a violation committed in individualized circumstances." The student was represented by lawyer Aton Fon Filho. The expulsion of student Yves prevented him from fully assuming the position of geography teacher at the school where he taught.
On May 16th, the 51 students being prosecuted by the rector of the University of São Paulo, João Grandino Rodas, began to testify. The students testified before a committee of professors appointed by the USP Attorney General's Office. If found guilty, all could be expelled from the University and, as a result, will never be able to maintain any type of affiliation, as a student, professor, or employee.
In October 2011, a group of 73 students occupied the Rector's office at USP (University of São Paulo). This was a form of protest against an agreement signed between the University and the São Paulo Public Security Secretariat, under which the Military Police now maintains visible policing on campus. On October 27, 2011, the Military Police repossessed the building, and the students were taken to the 91st Police Station in Ceasa. Last February, Rector Grandino Rodas opened administrative proceedings against the students. So far, of the 73 students arrested after the repossession, 53 have already received notification about the proceedings. A group of 20 of the 73 students were not USP students.
To prosecute the students, Rector Grandino Rodas based his decision on the USP disciplinary regulations, created during the dictatorship. Reformulated in 1990, the regulations, however, maintained the same section regarding punishments for indiscipline created by the dictatorship. This excerpt from the regulations states that "any activity that offends morality and good customs" is punishable.
The students being prosecuted claim that the accusation against them is legally unfounded because "in administrative proceedings, it is the Rectorate that accuses and appoints the investigating committee." The professors who make up the judging committee that will decide the students' fate are appointed by the University's Attorney General, a position whose appointment is made by the Rector himself.
Another group of students has already been expelled from USP: 13 of them were prosecuted on charges of having invaded the ground floor of block G of Crusp (USP Residential Complex) on March 18, 2011. Of these 13 prosecuted, 6 were expelled last December 17.
The administrative proceedings brought against the students are based on the USP General Regulations of 1972. Even after the 1988 Constitution, when universities gained autonomy, USP decided to maintain part of the 1972 Internal Regulations. Article 247 of the old General Statute, which is still part of the disciplinary regulations, aims to "ensure, maintain and preserve good order, respect, good customs and moral precepts in order to guarantee harmonious coexistence between faculty and students and the discipline indispensable to university activities".