Fordham University unfairly blocked four students from forming a pro-Palestinian group because deans worried the group would “stir up controversy” and use the term “apartheid” to describe Israel, a new lawsuit charges.
Students Ahmad Awad, Sofia Dadap, Sapphira Lurie and Julie Norris allege they followed the private Jesuit university’s guidelines for forming their group, Students for Justice in Palestine, but were stalled at every turn by Dean of Students Keith Eldredge and Dorothy Wenzel, Director of the Office of Student Leadership and Community Development, among other higher-ups.
The process, which should have taken a matter of weeks beginning in November 2015, instead took months and months, they say in papers filed Wednesday in Manhattan Supreme Court.
“As a Palestinian on campus, I was denied the opportunity to advocate for freedom for my people,” said Awad, who is a senior. “Instead of encouraging our human rights advocacy, the university sided with those trying to silence our voices.”
During a meeting on Dec. 12, Eldredge asked the students whether they would advocate for the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement meant to economically isolate Israel — and whether the effort would spell the dissolution of the Jewish state, according to the suit.
Eldredge also asked whether the students would use the term “apartheid” to describe Israel, and whether they would work with national advocacy groups like Jewish Voice for Peace, J Street and Seeds of Peace, according to papers.
The students said they supported the movement known as BDS and were open to collaborating with other advocacy groups.
The higher-ups also consulted with Jewish student groups on campus about their stance about the pro-Palestine group, according to the suit.
On Dec. 22 Fordham’s deans informed the students they would prohibit Students for Justice in Palestine, the suit says.
The deans’ decision came after the students had been approved by student government to form the group.
“I felt disgusted,” Awad says in an affidavit. “For nearly four years I had heard Fordham administrators speak about Jesuit values, about creating moral people, being kind and taking care of those less fortunate. When I received this decision, I understood this message did not apply to Palestinians. I felt defeated.”
A letter from Eldredge explained the university’s decision.
“While students are encouraged to promote diverse political points of view, and we encourage conversation and debate on all topics, I cannot support an organization whose sole purpose is advocating political goals of a specific group, and against a specific country, when these goals clearly conflict with and run contrary to the mission and values of the University,” Eldredge wrote, according to papers.
“There is perhaps no more complex topic than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and it is a topic that often leads to polarization rather than dialogue. The purpose of the organization as stated in the proposed club constitution points toward that polarization. Specifically, the call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions of Israel presents a barrier to open dialogue and mutual learning and understanding.”
The suit says there’s no factual basis for the support of the BDS movement representing a “barrier” to on-campus dialogue.
The university’s opposition to BDS is shared by Gov. Cuomo himself. He issued an executive order in June divesting the state’s funds from institutions that support the movement.
Fordham spokesman Bob Howe said the university made its decision due to concerns about the national branch of Students for Justice in Palestine as well as other local chapters, though he did not provide specifics.
“Fordham has told the students that it will grant the club status under a slightly revised version of constitution they had proposed. The students can have the discourse that they seek on this issue in the form of a student club; the club they sought in the constitution,” Howe said. “The University, however, is simply asking that the name of the club and the proposed constitution be changed to more accurately reflect the lack of control by the national organization or chapters of SJP, which the students have already represented to be the case.”
Center for Constitutional Rights Deputy Legal Director Maria LaHood, who is representing the students, said the club represented protected speech.
“Even if the expression of views seeking justice in Palestine or demanding respect for human rights through BDS is considered polarizing or offensive to some, it is protected speech; indeed, it is the ideas that challenge us and foster debate that need to be protected most,” she said.
