University students continue the fight to protect student speech

Solomon Comissiong, faculty advisor for the university’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, speaks at the SJP vigil on Oct. 7, 2024. (Yugo Hines/The Black Explosion)

In a monumental victory for student activists, University of Maryland students held a vigil on Oct. 7 to mourn victims in Gaza.

Hosted by Students for Justice in Palestine, the all-day event consisted of education teach-ins, art and poetry readings and speeches. It concluded with a vigil co-hosted by this university’s chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace on McKeldin Mall.

Many speakers at the event were affiliated with the Anti-Imperialist Movement, a coalition of university organizations dedicated to fighting imperialism on campus and in the wider community. 

Each speech was different; some focused on personal loss and grief caused by the Israel-Palestine conflict, while others discussed similarities between it and other historical events. 

Paul, an executive board member of the Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines at the University of Maryland, volunteered to speak for his organization at the SJP event. His speech was inspired by the shared history of colonization and occupation in both Palestine and the Philippines.

“I wanted to come here and educate and agitate to let people know that we stand with them,” Paul said.

The event came after weeks of student activism and a federal lawsuit. The university administration initially approved the event over the summer but revoked permission as Oct. 7 drew closer.

On Sept. 1, the university’s President, Darryll Pines, announced that only university-sponsored events would be permitted on Oct. 7. In his letter, Pines cited safety concerns, calls for restrictions or cancellations of events and “an abundance of caution” as the main motivators behind this decision.

The suspension of student-organized events was met with criticism; several organizations, including SJP and JVP, condemned the university’s decision on social media. Along with the suppression of free speech, SJP and JVP also accused the university of bending to external pressure and failing to provide students with a place to grieve.

“This event was meant purely to be a space to grieve all that has been lost,” JVP wrote in a statement posted on its Instagram Sept. 2. “Calling a vigil a threat to anyone’s safety is clearly rooted in racism against the majority Arab, Black, and brown students who comprise SJP and perpetrates the lie that the organization is anti-Jewish.”

In response to the ban, the Council on American–Islamic Relations and Palestine Legal filed a lawsuit against the university on Sept. 17. The suit alleges that the university's ban violated the First Amendment and that it lacks the legal justification to censor speech, “even on occasions that may be emotional or politically polarizing.” On Oct. 1, a federal court ruled that SJP could move forward with the vigil.

Despite the event going through, the justification behind the attempted ban is still a point of contention. In his initial letter, Pines said UMPD found “no immediate or active threat” to justify suspending events. 

However, a press release published by the university Oct. 1 claimed both Pines and UMPD police Chief David Mitchell were concerned by “unprecedented communications of a concerning and threatening nature,” which was what led to the threat assessment and subsequent cancellations. 

Many students say they are frustrated with the administration for using unspecified safety concerns as justification to suppress student voices.

“We're supposed to be commemorating the dead, but we can't do it because Darryll Pines is afraid of some sort of violence happening,” Aaron Smith, a member of Anakbayan and a speaker at the event, said. ”It's confusing, and it's also childish. It's hard not to be annoyed at how much of an uphill battle everything has been.”

According to an online archive maintained by university libraries, university students have been pioneering on-campus protests and social movements since the 1960s. From the Vietnam War to racial justice to LGBTQ+ rights, there is a decades-long precedent of students using their right to free speech to petition for change. 

These traditions are being carried on in the modern day; inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, a 2023 exhibit titled “Rising Up: 100 Years of Student Activism for Justice and Civil Rights at the University of Maryland” showcased the evolution of student activism at this university. 

Solomon Comissiong, an African American studies professor, has served as the faculty advisor for SJP for the past 16 years. While he is proud that students are carrying on the tradition of activism, he also feels that the administration is stuck in its own legacy of suppressing student voices.

“The university, oftentimes, does not fall on the right side,” Comissiong said. “They do a lot of lip service about social justice and so forth. But when these types of issues and topics kind of hit home, and it moves from being theoretical to something that's history, like a current event, the university, oftentimes, unfortunately, shows their true cards and that they're only expedient towards where the money is.”

Although the courts granted SJP a preliminary injunction, there is a chance that issues between university administration and student groups will continue to occur. According to data collected by the Crowd Counting Consortium, the number pro-Palestine protests have risen dramatically in the past year.

University officials have also continued to emphasize their concerns for potential violence at events related to the Israel-Palestine war by having a robust security detail at the vigil. But in spite of increased police presence and a history of pushback from the university, student activists have expressed a desire to continue advocating through on campus events.

“We just want to do what every other social movement has done, has been proud to do,” Smith said. “That's to make a lot of noise and be in the open and be where everyone can be heard, and to make people uncomfortable with their complacency.”