Lawsuit filed against UGA over alleged anti-Muslim discrimination

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - The University of Georgia is facing a federal lawsuit over alleged anti-Muslim discrimination on its campus following Hamas’ attack on Israel in October.

The lawsuit was filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) by the Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Georgia) and attorneys Sarah Gerwig and Samantha Hamilton on behalf of individual UGA students and the organization Georgia Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), CAIR-Georgia announced Tuesday.

The lawsuit alleges UGA violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin by institutions receiving federal financial assistance – “through discriminatory enforcement of its policies.”

The plaintiffs are “demanding an immediate investigation into UGA’s extreme differential treatment of Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students, students perceived to be Palestinian, and students associated with or advocating for Palestinians,” according to CAIR.

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CAIR said the lawsuit details how SJP, “a student organization that advocates for Palestinian human rights and equality,” and students associated with the group “have been the target of anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab, and Islamophobic harassment on campus that has escalated since October 7, 2023,” the date of Hamas’ attack on Israel.

The lawsuit claims the university “did not take meaningful steps to end the harassment, prevent it from occurring, or remedy its effects,” but instead “reinforced the hostile anti-Palestinian environment,” according to CAIR.

CAIR said the lawsuit claims UGA police arrested nine students who were “peacefully protesting Israel’s genocide of Palestinians,” who were then “summarily suspended” without “proper notice,” locked out of their on-campus housing, and fired from their on-campus jobs.

The lawsuit also claims professors were told to call 911 on the students if they were seen on campus, that the students were prohibited from taking exams or submitting papers online, and that several students were also barred from attending their graduations.

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The complaint goes on to allege that UGA President Jere Morehead and university administrators “repeatedly ignoring meeting requests from SJP students, as well as ignoring SJP students’ concerns when they complained of threats to their physical safety.”

Other allegations in the complaint include “UGA exaggerating risks to the student body during student peaceful protests, and engaging in McCarthyist witch hunts by targeting student organizations and individual students perceived to be associating with Palestinians, even after SJP dissolved as a UGA student organization out of serious safety concerns,” CAIR said.

“As an Arab and Muslim student at UGA, I have faced relentless doxing, threats, and harassment both online and on campus,” one of the student plaintiffs said in a statement provided by CAIR. “I’ve been subjected to blatant racism, Islamophobia, and xenophobia, and every time I sought support from the university, UGA not only failed to respond, but actively used its institutional power to target and profile myself and other Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian students.”

“By ignoring our calls for support, arresting and suspending us, barring us from campus, and ultimately driving out SJP, one of the largest organizations that provided a sense of comfort and community for Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian students, UGA has made it painfully clear where it stands: not with marginalized students, but against us,” the student said.

A UGA spokesperson sent Atlanta News First the following statement in response to the lawsuit:

“The University of Georgia vigorously protects the safety and security of our campus and our students. While we are dedicated to fostering a climate of free speech, we must also enforce our policies and hold accountable those who choose to blatantly ignore these rules or disrupt our learning environment.

UGA Students for Justice in Palestine held numerous events last year on campus, but only one ended in arrests: the morning of April 29, 2024, when they held a clearly prohibited encampment on our historic North Campus Quad in willful violation of university policy, declined to accept alternatives by the university to conduct their protest in accordance with university policies, and refused repeated warnings to either comply with these policies or disperse. UGA supports and facilitates freedom of expression, but such activities must comply with applicable laws and policies.”

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