Current and former students at the University of Michigan have filed a lawsuit against the school alleging it disproportionately disciplined pro-Palestinian protesters and violated their free speech rights.

The federal lawsuit was filed in the US District Court in Detroit. The plaintiffs allege that the school violated the students’ constitutional rights to free speech, due process and equal protection under the law.

The six current and former students also allege that the University of Michigan initiated discipline proceedings against the students for speech-related conduct that other groups weren’t punished for.

The plaintiffs also alleged that students were targeted with different degrees of disciplinary proceedings based on race. They also allege they were fired from campus jobs and blacklisted for future employment.

“The egregious Constitutional violations outlined in this suit are merely a fraction of the repression the University of Michigan has subjected student activists like us to because of our assertion that the University should not financially invest in, and materially benefit from, the genocide of the Palestinian people,” graduate student and plaintiff Nora Hilgart-Griff told the Detroit News.

“That the University has departed from its longstanding allowance of student protest–even protest that may be critical of University policies or leadership–for this issue alone is evidence of the way the Palestinian people are systematically and intentionally dehumanized by the countries who fund and enable their dispossession and deaths.”

The lawsuit names the University of Michigan’s Board of Regents, its president, Santa Ono, vice president for student life, Martino Harmon, and two independent consultants, Omar Torres and Stephanie Jackson, as defendants.

Campus Protest Movement

Campus protests against Israel erupted after it launched a devastating offensive on the Gaza Strip in response to the Hamas-led 7 October attacks. Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have said Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

The campus protests were widespread during the 2023 school year, but have been more sporadic this year. Rights groups say there has been a crackdown on free speech by universities and the US government.

The University of Michigan lawsuit is the latest component of the campus protest movement, with current and former students alleging that their schools’ behavior violated constitutional rights, and potentially hindered their post-graduate career courses.

In September 2024, Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Maryland sued their school to hold an interfaith vigil on 7 October to mourn those killed in Gaza. A federal judge ruled that the school could not block the event.

The University of Michigan case is related to a student sit-in at the university president’s office and a “die-in” at a student gathering space in August.

The lawsuit alleges that the school called in police from more than 10 jurisdictions to disperse the latter event. The police made 42 arrests and gave citations to protesters for failing to leave the building when they were told to do so.

The plaintiffs allege that the university has never taken similar action at prior sit-ins, which are common.

Twenty-five of the students given disciplinary notices requested an arbitration before a student panel, and all were found to have not violated the student code. Harmon, the vice president for student life, later rescinded the decision, according to the lawsuit.

The student protest movement was catapulted into the limelight by congressional hearings, in which a Republican majority in the House of Representatives alleged the schools had not done enough to stamp out protestors.

A Republican-led House committee accused university leaders of giving into antisemitism, with the US director of national intelligence even alleging that Iran is providing financial support to pro-Palestine activists. The debate also helped put Congresswoman Elise Stefanik on the political map.

Following her grilling of university presidents, President-elect Donald Trump nominated Stefanik as the US’ ambassador to the UN.

Source: Middle East Eye

Roughly one in every two Muslim college students in the US state of California have experienced harassment or discrimination, according to a recently published survey.

The report from the California chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Center for the Prevention of Hate and Bullying (CPHB) includes responses from 720 students at 87 public and private colleges and universities across California, which found a 10 percent spike in Islamophobia faced by students since 2020.

The October 7, 2023, Hamas-led cross-border attack, as well as Israel’s onslaught on besieged Gaza, have exacerbated Islamophobia on campuses as well as “anti-Palestinian hate, and anti-Arab racism, leaving Muslim students feeling targeted and unsupported,” CAIR said in a statement.

Student-led anti-war protests that erupted nationwide on campuses in the wake of the escalating death toll have been repeatedly met with an effort to stamp them out or otherwise curtail the demonstrations.

“This past year has been extremely traumatizing for college students of varying ethnicities within the Islamic faith—all because they valiantly chose to stand up and humanize the plight of Palestinians, who have suffered from over 75 years of oppression, dehumanization, and war,” CPHB Director Osman Khan said in a statement.

“These students should not have to suffer physical reprisals, nor fear possible academic and future employment repercussions, for simply practicing their constitutionally protected rights of petition, assembly, and speech,” he added.

‘Not a global institution’

University of Southern California student Summer said many Muslim students have felt isolated within their college communities, particularly those who have lost friends and family in Israel’s war, which has claimed the lives of more than 43,000 Palestinians.

“Some students, while in class, have received (the) devastating news of losing loved ones in Gaza. They not only mourn their families but also face the silence and lack of empathy from their own community. Where are the statements of solidarity, safe spaces for healing, or meaningful support from the administration for those grieving innocent lives?” she asked rhetorically.

“We cannot claim to be a global institution of higher learning while neglecting the global realities of our students. We cannot say we stand for justice when we turn a blind eye to injustice within our own campus,” she added.

Source: TRT World

On Oct. 17, a man approached a group of pro-Palestinian protesters, calling them terrorists outside of Coffman Union. The incident was caught on video, posted to the Students for Justice for Palestine’s Instagram page and reposted on Al Jazeera’s Instagram page. “All you f—ing Muslim terrorists,” the man in the video said.

On Oct. 22, one day after the Morrill Hall takeover, a man in a crowd of a pro-Palestinian protest in front of Coffman Union yelled calling speakers and them terrorists. “Every time a speaker stopped talking, the man yelled terrorists,” Abouhekel said. Abouhekel did not report the incident to University administration or the University of Minnesota Police Department.

University of Minnesota spokesperson Jake Ricker said the safety of students, faculty and staff is the University’s top priority. “Acts of harassment, intimidation or bias — including these two incidents — are entirely unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” Ricker said. “We have and will respond promptly and fully to any reports of this behavior on campus.”

Fourth-year student Shahd Abouhekel took the Oct. 17 video. “I feared for my safety and feared this guy would like physically attack us,” Abouhekel said. “He kept saying, “You guys are terrorists, all of you are terrorists, effing Muslims.’” Abouhekel did not report the incident to the University of Minnesota Police Department but said she sent a direct email to Heather McGinnis, senior assistant to the vice president for Student Affairs, reporting the incident.

McGinnis responded to Abouhekel’s email and provided links for reporting bias concerns and additional resources for support.

“I told them the rundown of what happened, and they decided to turn a blind eye,” Abouhekel said.

Abouhekel said the University’s response raises concerns for the Muslim community.“ There has been a rise of Islamophobia in the past year, and especially the past few months,” Abouhekel said. “The University decided to just not bring it to light, and they don’t want to address it, and they’re just ignoring it.”

President of the Muslim Student Association (MSA) Ibraheem Fannoun said he wants to see more accountability from the University. “When they hear about these things, they don’t do anything about it,” Fannoun said. “The administration is making a big show of listening, but not taking action.”

Abouhekel said being called a terrorist is nothing new to her, and she has faced discrimination for wearing the hijab at the University this semester. “I was sitting with my friend and we were studying, and the student comes next to us and throws a crumpled piece of paper at me,” Abouhekel said. “We open it up and it says, ‘Your hijab is a disgrace to women.’”

Fourth-year student and President of the Undergraduate Student Government Rahma Ali said she does not feel safe on campus. “It’s not easy being a Muslim woman,” Ali said. “It’s not easy being a woman, and on top of that, a Black hijabi woman too.”

Ali said the issue goes beyond being called a terrorist. Islamophobia affects both the individual it is targeted towards and the community as a whole, negatively contributing to one’s mental health and identity, she added.

There have been issues with verbal harassment against Muslim women in the University community, especially since the Oct. 7 attacks, Fannoun said.

According to Fannoun, Islamophobia on campus has increased since the Oct. 7 attacks due to a misunderstanding of pro-Palestinian messaging.

“People see it as a show of hatred toward other groups,” Fannoun said. “It’s not accurate, and because of that, we see Islamophobia from other student organizations and even random individuals on campus.” Fannoun said his primary goal as MSA president is to prioritize his community and encourage people to do their research on Islam and Muslims.

“Look for somebody Muslim in your classes,” Fannoun said. “Ask them, and tell them to ask those who know, at the end of the day supporting Palestine is something we believe in and our religion is part of our beliefs.”

Source: The Minnesota Daily