A Pro-Palestine student group at University of Maryland College Park can move forward with an Oct. 7 vigil previously canceled by school leaders, after a district court judge ruled in their favor Tuesday.
Students for Justice in Palestine sued university system leaders in September after President Darryll Pines banned all student activity on the one-year anniversary of the war in Gaza. The group received approval to host their event over the summer, only to have it revoked due to an “overwhelming” number of complaints, Pines wrote in a campus-wide email.
Greenbelt district court judge Peter Messitte issued a preliminary junction to let the Pro-Palestine vigil happen, writing in his decision that “this is a matter of law, not of wounded feelings.”
“In the Court’s view, the harm SJP would suffer if the preliminary injunction does not issue is clearcut: It will lose the opportunity to express its grievances and commemorate the loss of life on what it believes is a sacrosanct day,” the opinion reads.
“Nor, under the circumstances of this case, is it meaningful to suggest that ample alternative channels of communication might exist for SJP,” it says. “Hold the event on October 8? At a different venue?...No channel of communication would be nearly as dramatic as what SJP hoped to pursue on October 7.”
University leaders asserted in a hearing Monday that they canceled the event – and all other student activity – because of safety concerns. But Messitte said that other avenues can be taken to protect students and faculty, like checking attendees’ IDs and putting up fencing.
And, he added, “SJP has held more than 70 events on campus since October 7, 2023, including meetings, protests, sit-ins, and demonstrations, all without significant disruption or conflict.”
Fourth-year College Park student and SJP organizer Abel Amene said he’s relieved the court acted quickly to allow the vigil to happen.
“But at the same time, we lost a whole month of planning,” Amene said. “And it has reduced the impact of that event, which I guess was always the intent of our detractors. And by giving in, the university has allowed them to do that, which is unfortunate and disappointing.”
Amene said the group planned to host teach-ins with local experts to educate students about topics related to Palestine and the war. But there’s no longer time to arrange those schedules.
“And that’s irreparable harm that the university has caused us,” he said.
According to a statement from the University System of Maryland, school leaders will implement a “robust safety plan” for the event, including “enhanced staffing” and a “strong security presence.”
“Notwithstanding today’s court ruling, the safety concerns that were raised remain a source of ongoing attention and focus for us,” the statement reads.
Amene said the ID-checking and other security measures are expected, but they still read as “repression.”
What the group wasn’t expecting, he said, is the $2,500 bond they have to pay to “secure costs and damages that might be sustained by reason of wrongful issuance of the preliminary injunction,” according to the court letter.
“We have a couple hundred dollars in our bank account for this organization,” Amene said. “And we’re now being asked to pay a bond when, as [university leaders] admitted themselves in their testimony, we have had over 70 events on this campus. Many of them were just as contentious and as high-profile. And we have had no issues, no incidents.”
Alex Morey, vice president of campus advocacy at Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said there’s more “legal wranglings” to come with the case.
“This is a preliminary, interim measure,” she said. “Hopefully it's a warning to university administrators that they cannot be playing fast and loose with students’ first amendment rights, otherwise courts can and should step in and make it right.”
