The fun never stops at the University of Michigan. The school recently put an end to mandatory diversity statements and the anti-Israel activists who took over the student government were impeached and removed from office. Now some of the anti-Israel activists are trying to push the pendulum back the other way by filing a lawsuit against the school. The lawsuit claims they were singled out and that their constitutional rights were violated.
The federal lawsuit filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan accuses the school of violating the students’ constitutional rights to free speech, due process and equal protection under the law. It names the university’s Board of Regents, president and vice president of student life as defendants.
The University of Michigan allegedly targeted students and student groups for disciplinary proceedings, issued trespass notices that kept them from attending classes, terminated students from campus jobs and blacklisted them from future employment, according to the lawsuit.
Here's the sort of violation mentioned in the complaint:
One such protest action included in the University of Michigan suit was a sit-in in the lobby of the president’s office in November 2023. The protest was broken up by police, with the suit alleging that over 10 different law enforcement departments were called in and 42 students were arrested.
Though the sit-in was a peaceful protest, the suit says, several students were injured as a result of police intervention. Zaynab Elkolaly, one of the plaintiffs, was allegedly thrown to the ground by by a University of Michigan police officer and had her hijab ripped off.
Students at that protest were later informed that they had violated the student code of conduct. A student led review found none of the students had disrupted university activity. That decision was overruled by the vice president of student life.
As always there are two sides to every story. In this case, U of M had police clear out a pro-Palestinian encampment back in May citing conditions at the camp.
The encampment had been set up in late April near the end of the school year and as families arrived for spring commencement. Posters taunting President Santa Ono and other officials were also displayed...
Ono said in a statement that the encampment had become a threat to safety, with overloaded power sources and open flames. Organizers, he added, had refused to comply with requests to make changes following an inspection by a fire marshal.
“The disregard for safety directives was only the latest in a series of troubling events centered on an encampment that has always violated the rules that govern the Diag — especially the rules that ensure the space is available to everyone,” Ono said.
In other words, the student protesters routinely ignore the time, place and manner restrictions that apply to everyone and then dare the university to do something about it. When the school finally does act, the protesters claim their rights have been violated. It will be interesting to see what a court makes of this lawsuit.
Separately, the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) has filed a complaint with the Department of Education claiming that U of M focused more on anti-Semitism than on anti-Islamic sentiment on campus.
