Tulane University

Tulane claims a commitment “to creating and sustaining an environment in which we welcome and practice the free exchange of ideas, the critical examination and discussion of them, and respect the dignity and freedom of others.” Yet, Tulane has persistently met students of diverse backgrounds with discrimination, harassment, and even police violence for protesting Israeli apartheid, occupation, and genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza. Tulane University’s Arabic Club and the Tulane chapter of Students for A Democratic Society filed a Title VI anti-Palestinian discrimination complaint to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights in July 2024. According to the complaint, Tulane Arabic Club members were made to remove their keffiyehs before performing at a Tulane Language Day event, and an administrator made a student publicly identify herself as Palestinian on stage.  Tulane received a failing score of 36.0 out of 100 in the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s (FIRE) 2025 College Free Speech Rankings, revealing a stark contradiction between its stated values and its actual practices. Tulane has criminalized students participating in non-violent demonstrations, suspended student groups organizing for Palestinian human rights on campus, and wrongfully punished students without the jurisdiction to do so, all in contradiction to their freedom of expression commitments. 

In February 2024, over 100 Tulane community members signed a letter expressing their concerns regarding anti-Palestinian rhetoric after Tulane University reportedly canceled a panel organized by students that was intended to feature lawyers and legal experts discussing how people who speak up for Palestinian rights are being punished. The event was planned as part of Civil Rights Law Week and followed all the steps to obtain approval. But at the last minute, the university shut it down and falsely claimed that the students themselves had canceled it. This is part of a larger pattern at Tulane of silencing voices that support Palestine. By blocking a peaceful, educational event, the university is sending a clear message: students who speak out for Palestinian rights aren’t welcome. 

On April 30, 2024, Louisiana State Police reportedly showed up in riot gear at an encampment, forcing demonstrators off campus, arresting fourteen individuals, and reportedly pointing weapons at peaceful protestors. The Tulane administration reportedly suspended five students and the Tulane chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). In response, students and faculty alike criticized the university for its handling of the situation, only to be met with silence. On May 3, 2024, 852 graduate and undergraduate students signed a letter to President Michael Fitts and the Tulane administration demanding an apology for the handling of the protests and false narrative portraying the protests as violent, citing nine other instances of anti-Palestinian discrimination on campus, and requesting protection from such discrimination in the future. In September 2024, a judge acquitted the protesters, and all charges were dropped.  

Tulane faculty members publicly expressed their opposition to the university’s response to student protests. 200 Tulane faculty members signed a letter to President Fitts opposing his escalation of the protests through deployment of police, the arrests and suspensions of students, and the “efforts to intimidate students and employees by threatening retaliatory action for participation in peaceful protests.” According to a video shared on the Instagram account of Assistant Professor Andrew McDowell, at least four staff members were reportedly placed on administrative leave for simply attending the protests. Over a dozen professors spoke in the video, stating that the protests were peaceful until the police began to escalate and condemning the university for threatening faculty who participated in protesting genocide. Tulane has demonstrated that when it comes to standing for the human rights of Palestinians, such expression will only be met with punishment and criminalization, whether it be students or faculty. 

In March 2025, the Tulane administration reportedly pursued further disciplinary action against several students who reorganized into a different group off campus known as the Together United Students for a Democratic Society. Although they were operating under a new name and location, the students were subsequently penalized for protesting Mahmoud Khalil’s ICE detention, including semester-long suspensions. In response, FIRE wrote a letter to the university administrators urging them to drop the charges and validating that Tulane raised “serious due process concerns.” On June 9th, the students announced that all charges against them were dropped. Yet, as an institution of higher education, Tulane appears to have failed to uphold its standards of free speech and has not met its obligations to protect all its students from discrimination. 

A group of Tulane students issued a public letter denouncing the university’s alarming crackdown on peaceful advocacy for Palestinian human rights. Tulane University has fostered an environment of fear, retaliation, and institutional bias against students and faculty who speak out against genocide. Through police crackdowns, organizational suspensions, academic retaliation, and the criminalization of peaceful protest, Tulane has made clear that anti-genocide expression will not be tolerated. Its administration has failed to uphold its stated commitments to free speech, human rights, and academic freedom; instead, it has chosen to punish dissent and protect complicity. Therefore, CAIR formally designates Tulane University a ‘Hostile Campus’ for anti-genocide students.