Executive Summary

Student activism for Palestinian rights is not new to American campuses. However, the events following October 2023 marked an unprecedented escalation in both student organizing and institutional responses. The encampments that began in April 2024 represented a coordinated national movement demanding:

Since April of 2024, pro-Palestinian protests and encampments have drawn significant attention from news media with intense scrutiny from elected officials, university administrations, and even international governments. Across public and private universities, student organizations established partnerships with one another and external groups to demand actions including calls to end the genocide in Gaza, Palestinian liberation, and for schools to disclose divestment and financial ties to Israel and weapons manufacturers such as Raytheon, General Dynamics, and Northop Grumman.

Amid heightened Islamophobia, rising hate crimes, and growing challenges to free speech, students and professors speaking out on Palestine face extreme instability and isolation — not just Muslims, but anyone expressing pro-Palestinian views. In May of 2024, The Crowd Counting Consortium at Harvard University's Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation reported more than 3,700 days of pro-Palestinian protest activity at over 500 schools across the United States with encampments at 130 of them (Ulfelder, 2024). University administrations and law enforcement have not only failed to support students, they have actively worsened students' physical and mental well-being by disbanding student organizations, attacking peaceful protestors, arresting students, and pursuing legal and academic disciplinary action against them.

The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) conducted this report to evaluate the experiences of students across U.S. public and private universities following the start of the first student protests. Drawing from first hand accounts and a detailed analysis of university administration policies and an evolving political landscape, this report offers a comprehensive picture of the current state of free speech on college campuses. Students and professors have faced unique challenges, often intensified if they are visibly Muslim, post their activism on social media, and attend protests and events related to Palestine. Furthermore, the new administration has brought forth a new lens through which to examine free speech, particularly as visa revocations, threats to federal funding, and public shaming by elected officials are invariably tied to whether institutions uphold free speech or suppress it.

To ensure a diverse representation of case studies, this report includes an in-depth assessment of the top 20 universities selected based on levels of protest activity, geographic location, and public or private status. These schools include: Arizona State University, University of California Riverside, University of Southern California, University of California Los Angeles, University of California Berkeley, University of Michigan, Harvard University, Columbia University, Ohio State University, University of Texas at Austin, University of Minnesota, University of Washington, University of Chicago, University of North Carolina, University of Virginia, The George Washington University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, University of Pennsylvania, and Northwestern University.

Profiles are supplemented by quotes and direct testimony from students and professors, gathered through Zoom interviews and a Google Form survey. Once all relevant information was collected, each university profile was designated a letter grade by a carefully constructed grading framework which provides four sub-grades on administration response, police involvement, negotiations with students, and the impact on academic and free speech which was then averaged to provide an overall grade. The purpose of this report is not only to document but also to amplify the experiences of student activists facing repression, hold universities accountable for their actions, and offer clear recommendations to protect free expression and safety of current and future campus protests. It also aims to apply pressure on universities to adopt tangible policy changes in the upcoming academic years.

Our research highlights the rising trend of limiting free speech on college campuses paired with racism, xenophobia, and the weaponization of antisemitism accusations to prevent students from organizing, advocating for human rights, or criticizing their university administrations. Consequences are intense: student organizations are defunded or disbanded, students are suspended and expelled, individuals doxxed, and even cultural and religious gatherings face administrative blocks.