6 Al Hussein University students expelled over campus clashes

Six Al Hussein University students were expelled and another five suspended on Monday in connection with clashes that took place on campus last month. Hasan Shalabi, the university’s dean of student affairs, said the committee formed to investigate a fight between students that escalated into a tribal clash last month decided to expel six students, suspend four for two semesters, and suspend another for one semester. “The students can submit an objection to the university’s deanship within 15 days of the decision, and a committee of deans will review it,” he told The Jordan Times over the phone yesterday, adding that the students who were expelled appealed their expulsion immediately after the decision was issued. He explained that the committee of deans will have the final say after studying the students’ appeals. Last month, a dispute between two students at Al Hussein University in Maan, located some 200km south of the capital, escalated into tribal clashes in which three people were injured. In a previous statement the university’s deputy president, Mohammad Nawafleh, said the two students got into a fight on campus and the university security guards managed to contain the situation. However, the two students decided to escalate the confrontation, calling in relatives and igniting a fracas near the campus bus station that required intervention by security forces. “The Gendarmerie Forces surrounded the area after the two sides became violent and started using sticks and stones,” a source from the Maan Public Security Department told The Jordan Times at the time of the incident, noting that a number of students were arrested and interrogated.