Columbia University mulling reinstating student groups critical of Israel
Pro-Palestinian protesters rallying outside Columbia University main campus in Nov. 2023. Photo by Camillo Barone
By Camillo Barone March 14, 2024
Columbia University is considering reinstating its chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, two student clubs that it suspended in Nov. 2023 for staging “unauthorized events” that included “threatening rhetoric and intimidation,” breaking campus rules.
The revelation came via an email response after the Forward asked if Columbia had considered responding to a March 12 lawsuit against the school from the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), and Palestine Legal, an advocacy group based in Chicago. While the lawsuit has had no bearing on the University’s consideration of SJP and JVP, a Columbia spokesperson has shared that representatives from the groups have met with staff advisers in January to discuss steps toward reinstatement.
The university noted that reinstatement would require the groups’ full compliance with university policies and procedures. “At present, they have not yet committed to doing so and remain suspended,” Columbia Office of Public Affairs and Communications staff said in an email.
According to a university spokesperson, the decision to suspend the groups was made after they allegedly failed to adhere to university rules despite repeated reminders and warnings.
Donna Lieberman, Executive Director of the NYCLU, expressed concerns over the university’s actions, stating, “Universities should be havens for robust debate, discussion, and learning — not sites of censorship where administrators, donors, and politicians squash political discourse they don’t approve of.”
Cameron Jones, an organizer with Columbia’s JVP chapter, raised concerns about the university’s decision to suspend a Jewish group, saying it “sets a concerning precedent for safeguarding free speech on college campuses.” Jones highlighted the importance of protecting all voices within the Jewish community, including those critical of Zionism.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
