ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Protesters at the University of Rochester gathered Thursday at Genesee Valley Park. The protesters — including students, faculty and a City Council member — came together to denounce the suspensions that the university announced for some students who were involved in demonstrations calling for UR to divest from Israel.

Demonstrators argue that the interim suspensions handed down were unjust, while the university states that they are a result of repeated violations of the school’s protest policies.

Wishing to remain anonymous, an international student from Serbia Thursday said that the suspension she received may keep her from coming back into the country.

“I was looking for a place where I can express my freedom and I can stand with the values that I was unable to express in my home country. … I get suspended, which in fact entails that the moment I leave the country, I will not be able to return,” the student said.

Before marching toward Wallis Hall, students like Laith Awad Mohamad addressed the media to make their demands known.

“The main reasons that people got suspended was for the peaceful sit-in we did at Resilience Hall — or Wallis Hall as they call it,” Awad Mohamad said.

Last week, student demonstrators held a sit-in at Wallis Hall on Wednesday and again on Friday. They have an encampment in place on campus. The protesters want UR to divest from financial and other ties to Israel, and to call for a cease-fire in Gaza.

In a statement, University of Rochester President Sarah Mangelsdorf said that “the students leading the protests increasingly have been unwilling to engage in honest discourse with us and have chosen to violate agreements that they willingly entered into.”

Protesters said more than 10 suspensions were handed down on Friday.

“The best way to resolve this is by peacefully sitting down and negotiating face-to-face,” Awad Mohamad said. He said that the suspensions are “part of a long process for the past seven months of escalation by the university.”

Joining protesters in their march, Rochester City Councilmember Kim Smith said that students have the right to demonstrate peacefully and that they will be on the right side of history.

“They are doing as they were taught at your university. This should be a source of pride,” Smith said.

The encampment of protesters in Eastman Quad remains in place, despite the administration’s demand it be removed by this past Monday.