Rutgers University has suspended the New Brunswick campus group “Students for Justice in Palestine,” saying it had received complaints the group was disrupting campus life and making students and staff feel unsafe.
The university in a letter accused the pro-Palestinian group of “disrupting classes, a program, meals, and students studying.” It also cited vandalism at Rutgers Business School. Members of SJP claimed their protests have been peaceful.
SJP said in a statement: “None of the allegations are substantiated by date, testimony, or description of incidents.”
Audrey Truschke, professor of history at Rutgers University-Newark and chair of the faculty union’s Academic Freedom Committee, said of the suspension: “I think it’s shocking and appalling. It’s a targeted suspension based on viewpoint discrimination. The Rutgers administration and others outside of the university do not like the views of SJP, and so they are suppressing and censoring them, which is highly inappropriate.”
