After obtaining a “historic” settlement from the University of Maryland following a court ruling that found free speech violations, UMD’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter has begun planning a path forward.
The SJP chapter will soon begin the process of obtaining the $100,000 sum owed by UMD in an agreement reached this summer, which resolved the Oct. 2024 lawsuit filed by Palestine Legal and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on behalf of the student group.
“Now that we’ve achieved the legal victory, we’re actually finally getting to start the process of handling the money,” said senior Daniela Colombi, a member of UMD SJP and an astronomy and physics major.
The lawsuit, filed in response to UMD’s attempted ban on student-organized events taking place on Oct. 7, 2023, argued that UMD’s actions amounted to creating “free expression-black-out days” — violating students’ first amendment right to freedom of speech.
A portion of the settlement will pay for the legal costs incurred during the lawsuit. SJP members hope that after consulting with lawyers, the remaining amount can be donated to help the people of Gaza.
“We’re going to be making a plan to hopefully donate as much as we can,” said Colombi. Donating the money is a way to show care for the steadfastness of the Palestinian people, Colombi told Al-Hikmah.
The settlement comes at a time of increased scrutiny towards student speech on college campuses. The Trump administration has made multiple high-profile attacks against student activists, and a recent Texas law directs public colleges to prohibit speech and expressive conduct between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. daily, and is the subject of ongoing legal challenges.
“Last year, UMD leaders tried to shut down all student protests across the entire state in order to suppress one particular view: a pro-Palestine view,” said CAIR National Deputy Litigator Gadeir Abbas. “The court said that was illegal and allowed SJP to do their vigil. That vigil ended up attracting hundreds and hundreds of students.”
Abbas described the current climate against free speech on college campuses as a hysteria.
“This is the worst climate for free speech, certainly this century, and you’d have to go back decades to find something similar,” said Abbas. “Here it really and truly is a hysteria that’s gripped college administrators across the country, that’s fueled by political leadership. The people doing the genocide don’t want people talking about the genocide.”
In addition to the historic payout, UMD agreed to affirm SJP’s good standing on campus, though as part of the settlement the University does not admit liability.
In a written statement from Tori Porell, a senior staff attorney at Palestine Legal, she affirmed the organization’s support for student activists across the nation and said that protecting the right to speak out for Palestinian freedom is “essential” for the freedom of all people, regardless of their backgrounds.
“The First Amendment has not changed and students, especially at public universities need to know that they still have the right to speak on matters of public concern, like the genocide in Gaza, even if other people find their speech to be uncomfortable,” she wrote. “Palestine Legal will continue to advise and represent students and faculty across the country who are facing the same kind of repression of their speech that UMD SJP faced.”
Porell criticized how administrators on college campuses have handled protests. “Administrators should be more concerned with the mass slaughter of Palestinians than with policing protests and slogans due to complaints from people who don’t believe that Palestinians deserve freedom in their homeland.”
As UMD’s SJP chapter turns to the future, students like Colombi have a message for the University and beyond.
“They should take this as a sign — the University, the state in general — that we’re not just gonna disappear.”
Image credits: Cover photo by Amna Tariq/Al-Hikmah Staff.
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