The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, has designated the University of Pittsburgh (UPitt)as a Hostile Campus for Anti-Genocide Students. This designation arises from a documented pattern of the university’s actions that intimidate, suppress, and penalize students, faculty, and staff who actively oppose the occupation, apartheid, and genocide of the Palestinian people.
The University of Pittsburgh publicly asserts a commitment “to fostering an environment of respect, concern for others, diversity, inclusion, and belonging, which are the foundation of our community.” However, the university’s implementation of these principles does not exist for anti-genocide student voices on campus. On April 15, 2025, reportedly the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania (ACLU-PA) and SJP at Pitt filed a federal lawsuit against the University of Pittsburgh, asserting that the university’s suspension of the organization violates students’ First Amendment rights to free speech and association. The lawsuit seeks an immediate injunction to lift the suspension and allow the student group to resume its activities. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) assigned the University of Pittsburgh a “yellow light” rating, indicating the presence of at least one ambiguous policy that could encourage administrative abuse or arbitrary application. In its 2025 report, FIRE ranked Pitt 208th out of 251 schools for free speech, citing issues such as vague policies and inconsistent enforcement.
Criminalization of Peaceful Protest
The University of Pittsburgh (UPitt) has criminalized peaceful demonstrations in a blatant attempt to intimidate and deter individuals from engaging in legitimate political expression. In 2024, the university reportedly authorized multiple aggressive arrests when students reportedly initiated peaceful encampments on campus to express solidarity with Palestine and urge the university to divest from the apartheid state of Israel. The April 28th protest and encampment for Gaza reportedly followed a student government vote overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution calling for full disclosure of university investments and divestment from companies complicit in human rights abuses against Palestinians. During the June 2024 protests, UPitt police officers reportedly arrived in riot gear at the encampment and formed a wall between the camp and those outside it. A demonstrator allegedly suffered a head laceration during that time and was taken to a local hospital for treatment. Another demonstrator was reportedly detained by police for bringing water inside the camp. At least 16 students and community members were later reportedly criminally charged, facing offenses such as disorderly conduct, failure to disperse, obstruction of public passage, and trespassing. These charges were filed in blatant disregard of the overwhelmingly peaceful nature of the protest and seem solely aimed at silencing students speaking out against genocide. The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) President, Dr. Irene Mulvey, condemned the arrests of students, asserting that deploying armed police to suppress peaceful campus protests threatens democracy and undermines academic freedom.
Disciplinary Measures Against Student Organizations
The university has also moved to suppress organizational activism. In March 2025, UPitt reportedly suspended its Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter. The suspension prohibits SJP from organizing events, accessing campus resources, or participating in university activities, effectively silencing a key voice for Palestine advocacy. On March 21, the ACLU of Pennsylvania released a letter sent to Pitt Chancellor Joan Gabel, urging the university to rescind both their decision to suspend SJP and their threat of additional charges. This suspension reportedly followed earlier efforts to sanction SJP for a peaceful “study-in” where students were silently displaying anti-genocide signs on their own computers at the Hillman Library in December 2024. In February, over seventy university and community groups signed a letter condemning Pitt’s actions against the student club, which was sent to the Pitt administration. These incidents illustrate how advocating for Palestinian human rights at UPitt has been labeled as criminal.
Targeting of Individual Students
Students and faculty of UPitt have expressed that the university’s inconsistent application of its conduct rules opens the door for targeted repression and abuse of power. In a deeply alarming case, the university reportedly permanently dismissed a Muslim senior honors student who had no prior disciplinary record following their participation in peaceful protest. This extreme punishment by the university was apparently handed down through vague and discretionary conduct procedures, raising serious concerns about due process, Islamophobic bias, and the use of university policy as a tool to silence dissent.
The administration’s actions at the University of Pittsburgh have created fear among international students involved in these protests. Reports of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) presence on campus have heightened concerns, leading students to fear that their political activism could jeopardize their legal status and academic pursuits. Some have reportedly faced potential deportation, which validated concerns about the broader implications of campus activism. Most recently, Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor Joseph J. McCarthy reportedly announced that a UPitt student and two recent graduates have had their visas revoked and education records terminated by the federal government.
Institutional Bias in Addressing Discrimination
The university’s adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism and its recent establishment of an ad hoc committee on anti-Semitism, which conflate anti-Zionism with antisemitism, exemplify institutional bias. This conflation mischaracterizes legitimate political critique as hate speech. Such claims of antisemitism against student protesters have been previously used to censor pro-Palestinian advocacy on campuses nationwide and to stifle legitimate criticism of the human rights abuses and war crimes committed by the state of Israel. One Jewish UPitt student protesting the genocide in Gaza reportedly proclaimed, “At all these other campuses … they’re claiming that these movements are antisemitic or that Jews on campus are unsafe, but we are not the only Jews here. There’s a lot of anti-Zionist Jews all across the country that organize these events, and it really hurts when they use antisemitism as a shield.”
Moreover, the administration’s apparent neglect of addressing Islamophobia—despite its reported prevalence on campus—demonstrates a concerning double standard in tackling issues of discrimination. When students and faculty began to call for attention to Islamophobia, administrators reportedly intervened to take over the antisemitism committee through the Chancellor’s and Provost’s offices. This move effectively blocked any parallel initiative addressing anti-Muslim discrimination. Students have reportedly described this as a deliberate attempt to erase Islamophobia from the university’s agenda while centralizing control over discourse surrounding Israel. Instead of treating all forms of hate and discrimination equitably, the university has prioritized efforts that police political speech critical of Israel while neglecting the harassment, marginalization, and surveillance experienced by Palestinian, Muslim, and Arab students.
The University of Pittsburgh’s actions collectively foster an environment hostile to students and faculty advocating for Palestinian human rights. By criminalizing peaceful protest, imposing disproportionate disciplinary measures, suppressing awareness efforts, and exhibiting institutional bias, the university undermines the principles of free expression and academic freedom, thereby creating a hostile campus environment.
