The University of Maryland will pay $100,000 to this university’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter to settle a lawsuit over the school’s attempt to ban student-sponsored events on Oct. 7, 2024.
The Maryland Board of Public Works approved the settlement of all claims, including attorneys fees, during its Wednesday meeting. The Council for American-Islamic Relations and Palestine Legal, which represented Students for Justice in Palestine during the lawsuit, will retain some of the funds.
“UMD SJP will spend every dollar of UMD’s $100,000 penalty for banning our vigil for Gaza toward organizing for a free Palestine and for collective liberation,” Daniela Colombi, a member of this university’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, said in a statement released by Palestine Legal.
This university’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter sued this university, the University System of Maryland Board of Regents and university president Darryll Pines last September after Pines announced only university sponsored events that promoted reflection would be permitted on Oct. 7, 2024.
[Students for Justice in Palestine chapter sues UMD, USM for Oct. 7 event restrictions]
Students for Justice in Palestine had previously reserved McKeldin Mall for Oct. 7, 2024 and planned to host a vigil honoring the tens of thousands of Palestinian lives lost from Israel’s military offensive in Gaza that started one year prior, according to the lawsuit.
Hamas killed at least 1,200 people in Israel and took about 250 people hostage in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack, according to the Associated Press. In the months since, Israel’s military forces have killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
The student group claimed the university’s revocation of its reservation and limitation of all non-university-sponsored Oct. 7 events violated its free speech rights under the First Amendment, according to the lawsuit.
In a statement Wednesday, this university expressed its support for students’ First Amendment rights and wrote that it did not admit liability in the settlement.
“The University takes very seriously its responsibilities for the safety and security of all University students and other members of its community,” the statement read.
A federal judge blocked the university’s ban on Oct. 1, 2024, ultimately allowing Students for Justice in Palestine to hold its planned vigil.
[Hundreds of UMD community members gather to honor people killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023]
The event, which was co-hosted by this university’s Jewish Voice for Peace chapter, drew more than 500 community members and featured speeches, teach-ins and prayers, The Diamondback reported. University of Maryland police implemented enhanced security measures throughout the day, including metal detectors, barriers, bag searches and ID checks.
“The University of Maryland’s so-called October 7th blackout date was an obvious attempt to silence even the mourning of Palestinian lives,” CAIR National staff attorney Ahmad Kaki wrote in a statement to The Diamondback.
The federal judge’s order also allowed other student groups to hold “expressive events” on Oct. 7, 2024.
The Terps for Israel student group held a memorial on Hornbake Plaza that day to honor the hostages Hamas kidnapped one year prior. That evening, more than 1,100 community members attended a vigil outside of Maryland Hillel to remember the victims of Hamas’ attack on Israel, The Diamondback previously reported.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Maryland and other free speech organizations backed Students for Justice in Palestine’s lawsuit in an amicus brief filed in September.
“Today’s settlement reflects the fact that the federal court had already declared that the University of Maryland’s attempt to silence all speech about the Israel – Palestine conflict on October 7, 2024, was clearly unconstitutional,” David Rocah, senior staff attorney of the ACLU of Maryland wrote in a statement to The Diamondback Wednesday.
The University System of Maryland deferred to this university for comment.
