Several dozen Johnson C. Smith University students rallied outside the west Charlotte campus Monday to protest what they described as unfair treatment by school administrators.

The protesters said they were angry over the expulsion or suspension of 15 students following an on-campus brawl in the wee hours of Jan. 18. The protestors said some of the students were suspended with no proof of guilt and without due process.

In a scene reminiscent of the 1960s, the students carried placards denouncing the university while shouting slogans of protest.

“Education, not expulsion,” some shouted to traffic passing along Beatties Ford Road.

Others said JCSU President Ronald Carter was more concerned with protecting the school’s image than with finding a just solution.

Citing fear of retribution, some of the students declined to give their names.

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The disciplinary actions stem from a fight that began between two students at a Charlotte nightclub and reignited when the students returned to campus around 2:30 a.m.

According to the university, the on-campus fight attracted a large group of student onlookers. When campus security and Charlotte-Mecklenburg police tried to disperse the crowd, some of the students became physically and verbally abusive, the university has said.

At least two students were arrested.

A student who identified herself as Teairra Nowlin, a business major from Washington, D.C., said school officials accused her of “arguing with an authority figure” and suspended her for a year.

Nowlin conceded that she got into a verbal altercation with a campus cop but only after the officer swore at her, she said.

“Kids fight every day,” she said. “Instead of making us do community service or pick up trash, you expel or suspend us. That’s not right.”

University spokesman Benny Smith on Monday called the suspensions temporary, saying any student found innocent will be reinstated. Each student affected is going through the school’s normal appeals process, he said.

Carter, the JCSU president, issued a statement Monday saying students must be held accountable when they violate university standards.

“The University has policies and procedures that govern civility and security for our faculty, staff and students,” he said. “It is unfortunate that some students chose to violate those polices... The Johnson C. Smith University Student Handbook is very clear about the process we employ when students violate our policies. We are following that process to the letter.”

A student who identified himself as Donnie Wilson, a sophomore business major, said he, too, was accused of arguing with a security officer and suspended for a year.

Wilson said he has been out of class for nearly two weeks awaiting his appeal.

“They put this appeal on a high pedestal,” he said. “If the appeal is going to help me, why prolong the situation and have me out of class.”

Since his arrival at the university more than a year ago, Carter has worked to improve JCSU’s image and visibility. He raised academic standards last year to weed out students less likely to graduate. He also has worked to forge alliances with community and business groups.

Smith, the JCSU spokesman, said he did not believe the recent unrest would tarnish the school’s burgeoning image as “Charlotte’s premier independent urban university,” a tag line frequently used by school officials.

On Friday, he said, Carter is scheduled to hold a town hall-style meeting with the student body to discuss the situation.

Meanwhile, the university has announced several steps aimed at improving campus security, including the hiring of a new security chief, implementing a 24-hour dispatch center and increasing the number of officers on duty each shift. The school also will implement an auxiliary student patrol this month.

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