The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan sent a letter to the University of Michigan on Tuesday expressing concern over recent actions taken by the University in response to student activism around the Israel-Hamas war. The letter, addressed to University President Santa Ono and Timothy Lynch, the University’s vice president and general counsel, stated that the ACLU believes the University has been suppressing student expression on the conflicts, and offered nine recommendations for how the University can foster open dialogue on the issue.
In the letter, the ACLU wrote they believe the University has engaged in a pattern of suppressing student speech, particularly relating to the ongoing violence in Palestine and Israel.
“(Universities are) where students develop lifelong critical thinking skills, where they test their ideas, and where they learn from each other—even when it is challenging, uncomfortable, or confrontational to do so,” the letter reads. “We are therefore troubled by what we perceive to be an escalating pattern of suppression in the University’s response to student speech, dissent, and protest that is currently widespread on campus.”
The letter cites multiple instances of this suppression including new restrictions on school listservs, canceling voting on two Central Student Government resolutions and arresting peaceful protestors.
According to the ACLU, in late October, Medical School students reported the Medical School placed moderation policies on the official school listserv after students sent two pro-Palestine statements to all students on the email list. In November, Law School students reported the Law School shut down its school-wide listserv for the remainder of the academic year.
On Nov. 17, 40 U-M students were arrested at a pro-Palestine protest at the Alexander G. Ruthven Building, and multiple students reported physical harm. The 40 students were prohibited from entering the Ruthven Building for one year. According to the ACLU, some of these students requested to attend the Dec. 5 Board of Regents meeting inside Ruthven and said the guidelines on whether they were allowed to attend were unclear. The request was denied by the U-M Department of Public Safety and Security, which ACLU defined as a violation of the Open Meetings Act because Board of Regents meetings are open to the public.
The administration also canceled voting for two resolutions on Central Student Government’s midterm ballot – AR 13-025 and AR 13-026 – after an email was sent to all undergraduate students asking them to support AR 13-025 and oppose AR 13-026. The email was authorized by an employee in the Office of Registrar, a requirement for all messages sent through the University’s targeted email service. In a press release on Dec. 5, Ono said the University will not allow any future voting on the canceled resolutions to prevent further division on campus.
The ACLU also attached a Freedom of Information Act request submitted to the University to the letter, which asked for all written communications about the canceled CSG resolutions and from the Department of Public Safety and Security regarding the Nov. 17 protest and the Dec 5. Regents meeting.
The public records request also asked for communications discussing U-M policy applicable to posting flyers on the Biological Sciences Building and East Hall, specifically communications to or from LSA Dean Anne Curzan. In the letter, the ACLU said U-M students reported that the University sought to remove multiple posters containing pro-Palestine messages, pro-labor messages and photos of Che Guevara, a leader in the Cuban Revolution.
“Graduate students at the Biological Sciences Building inform us that in late November, the University directed custodial staff to remove signs that students had posted in their office windows,” the letter read. “The signs included pro-labor messages and images of Che Guevara as well as statements such as ‘Stop the Genocide, Free Palestine’ and ‘Killing People Is Bad.’ Students have hung signs in these windows since well before the events of October 7 without the University seeking to remove them.”
The ACLU wrote that the University has a responsibility to prioritize students’ right to freedom of speech and facilitate open conversations on campus.
“Over the last two months, students at the (University) have embraced the time-honored American tradition of passionate on-campus debate and demonstration,” the letter read. “While many may disagree with their tactics or their message, we must hold fast to our nation’s commitment—and your constitutional obligation—to free speech and open debate. Unilaterally canceling student referenda, shutting down email lists, removing posters, and inviting an overwhelming police response to student protests do exactly the opposite.”
The ACLU wrote that the University’s recent actions pose a threat to students’ rights to free speech, expression and assembly.
“Taken together, we fear that the University’s actions in recent weeks are sending an alarming message about the state of free speech on campus: if students continue to engage in speech that the University disagrees with or deems counterproductive, the University seems poised to censor or suppress that speech and respond to protests with disproportionate and unnecessarily confrontational responses,” the letter read. “This produces precisely the type of chilling effect that our bedrock principles of free speech and academic freedom seek to prevent.”
In an email to The Michigan Daily, Om Shah and Nicole Wan, ACLU Undergraduate Chapter at U-M co-chairs, said they made a FOIA request on behalf of the TAHRIR coalition alongside U-M student organization Law Students for Justice in Palestine. Shah and Wan said the request, which was made to learn more about the University’s decision to cancel the CSG resolutions, was denied.
“In filing our FOIA request, we hoped to better understand what factors contributed to the University’s decision, what stakeholders they heard from, and what procedures they followed (or did not follow) in canceling democratic processes in an unprecedented manner,” Shah and Wan wrote. “However, the university administration chose to deny our request for transparency. The TAHRIR Coalition has also filed multiple FOIA requests, one pertaining to the university’s financial investments in companies profiting off of the Palestinian genocide and another investigating the University’s procedures for preventing police brutality against protestors. Similarly, these requests for transparency were completely denied.”
Shah and Wan shared their support for the ACLU’s letter, and reaffirmed their position against the U-M administration’s response to student activism.
“We stand against the controlling and unprofessional behavior of our university’s administration,” Shah and Wan wrote. “Regardless of anyone’s stance on the Palestinian genocide, we believe that the University’s consistent misconduct and flagrant unwillingness to listen to its students of Color are unacceptable.”
In an email to The Daily, University spokesperson Rick Fitzgerald wrote that the U-M administration plans to respond directly to the ACLU.
“The University of Michigan has the highest regard for free speech and our long-standing policy affirms that position,” Fitzgerald wrote. “We will review this letter carefully and respond to ACLU directly.”
Daily News Editor Sneha Dhandapani can be reached at sdhanda@umich.edu.