Nationwide Actions Against Pro-Palestinian Groups on Campuses

Summary

After the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel’s subsequent retaliatory actions in Gaza, college campuses across the United States became major centers of pro-Palestinian activism, largely led by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters. Students organized encampments, sit-ins, rallies, and divestment campaigns to draw attention to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and advocate for Palestinian rights. Many of these protests disrupted campus operations, with encampments often set up in central quads or libraries and demonstrations coinciding with exams or major campus events. Administrators at a range of schools responded by suspending or placing SJP chapters on probation, temporarily revoking recognition, or restricting protest activities. Some of the schools involved include American University, Brown University, Brandeis University, Case Western Reserve University, Columbia University, DePaul University, George Mason University, George Washington University, Pomona College, Rutgers University, Swarthmore College, Tufts University, UCLA, University of Georgia, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, University of Pittsburgh, and University of Wisconsin–Madison.

The suspensions generally targeted SJP chapters for alleged violations of student conduct codes, hosting unapproved events, or creating safety concerns, though they sometimes also included limits on online activism and social media posts. At Columbia, UCLA, and Swarthmore, large-scale encampments required police intervention or repeated administrative orders to disperse, while other schools, such as Brown, Pomona, and George Mason, imposed probationary periods and restrictions on gatherings or demonstrations. University administrators often justified these actions by citing concerns about safety, disruption, or harassment, while students and civil liberties groups criticized them as attempts to suppress political expression and limit advocacy for Palestinian rights. In several cases, these disciplinary measures sparked broader campus debates over free speech, academic freedom, and the right of students to organize politically motivated protests.

Beginning in January 2025, the federal government under the Trump administration intensified oversight of campus policies on anti-Semitism, linking enforcement to federal funding. This pressure contributed to stricter university enforcement of conduct codes related to SJP and other pro-Palestinian groups. Some of the disciplinary measures led to legal challenges, with civil liberties organizations, including the ACLU, filing lawsuits on behalf of students and faculty. These lawsuits contested suspensions, restrictions on demonstrations, and policies that administrators had used to regulate social media content and physical protests, arguing that they infringed on students’ constitutional free speech rights and the right to political association.