U.S. Universities Silence Dissent, Discriminating Against Muslim Students
By Ismail Allison
Nov/Dec 25
Since the start of Israel’s genocide in Gaza in 2023, the United States government, media, and various institutions have taken extreme measures to protect Israel from any form of public criticism. University campuses, especially, have been leading the crackdowns against free speech and activism. Across the nation during Israel’s unrelenting genocide in Gaza, students set up encampments, held marches, joined and created organizations, and used social media to spread awareness. For their part, university administrations worked to shut them down, sometimes with brute force. The Gaza genocide has also led to a new wave of anti-Muslim bigotry with university campuses being some of the biggest hotspots for Islamophobic incidents.
In response to increased reports of suppression or discrimination, The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), created the Hostile Campus Rating Framework, a rubric that evaluates college campuses by assessing institutional policies, campus climate, civil rights violations, and restrictions on free speech and political expression. The framework considers whether universities suppress lawful dissent through arrests, sanctions, surveillance, or collaboration with federal agencies. It also examines the extent to which universities have anti-Islamophobia policies, include Muslim students in broader anti-discrimination frameworks, and/or engage affected communities in policymaking. The framework investigates documented incidents of Islamophobia, hostile campus climates, and legal actions, such as Title VI complaints or lawsuits.
Scoring is based on a rubric with deductions for discriminatory policies, incidents, or violations, and campuses are rated as “unhostile,” “under watch,” or “hostile” based on their performance. Data sources include surveys, public records, media reports, and statements from campus groups.
Using this framework, CAIR has designated 28 U.S. universities as “hostile.” Cornell University falls under this category. On that campus in March 2024, 22 students were arrested during a non-violent protest demanding divestment from weapons manufacturers tied to Israel. In April, four students involved in a peaceful encampment were suspended and banned from campus. Nearly 20 students were disciplined using surveillance footage after protesting defense contractors at a career fair. Among that group, the students were arrested and suspended, and four students were banned from campus for three years. Further, an international Ph.D. candidate’s visa was revoked due to his activism on behalf of Palestine. He ended up withdrawing from his degree and filing a civil rights lawsuit against the university.
Columbia University also falls under the “hostile” category. In early 2024, protesters at a Palestine solidarity event were sprayed with a chemical agent resulting in at least 10 students requiring medical care. In April 2024, after resumption of a protest encampment, hundreds of New York Police Department officers – invited by Columbia’s Acting President Claire Shipman – stormed the campus in riot gear to clear protestors. Students were beaten and kicked by these violent police officers. Some were thrown down flights of stairs and injured while medical attention was delayed for some students. Dozens of student protesters have faced disciplinary action: suspensions, bans from campus, academic holds, and deferred disciplinary measures. Renowned Middle Eastern Studies Professor Dr. Rashid Khalidi resigned from his university chair at Columbia in protest.
Also designated as hostile is the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), where a mostly peaceful pro-Palestinian encampment was dismantled by campus police with several arrests in early 2024. UIUC students have alleged the university uses license plate readers and video and social media surveillance to monitor supporters of activism. The administration also imposed harsh protest restrictions that disproportionately target Muslim and pro-Palestinian students.
Similarly, UCLA cooperated with law enforcement to violently shut down the Gaza Solidarity Encampment in May 2024. Around 200 students were arrested during the clearing of the encampment, during which police used tear gas, rubber bullets, and other forms of force. Prior to this violent response, the university neglected to act when violent far-right mobs to assault peaceful pro-Palestinian protestors using poles, clubs, and wooden boards.
George Washington University was also designated as a “hostile” campus. It suspended its Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter in Nov. 2023 and targeted its student leaders. In May 2024, an anti-genocide sit-in was dismantled and law enforcement working with the university administration was authorized to destroy materials like Islamic prayer mats and copies of the Quran. Muslim and Palestinian students reported harassment on campus such as having hijabs ripped off and being spat on. Others said university leadership failed to acknowledge the suffering of Palestinian civilians.
Other universities that fall under the “hostile” category of CAIR’s Hostile Campus Rating Framework include Harvard University, Stanford University, Johns Hopkins University, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of California, Irvine, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Tulane University, Emory University, the University of Pittsburgh, New York University, the University of Chicago, the University of Texas at Austin, Northwestern University, Swarthmore College, Pomona College, and Northern Arizona University.
A university being designated as “hostile” indicates a sustained pattern of policies, behaviors, or abuses that make life difficult or risky for Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, and allied students, faculty, or staff, especially those who protest or speak out on the Gaza genocide. It is not a symbolic gesture; it is a public indictment of an institution’s failure to uphold civil rights, protect vulnerable communities, and foster true academic freedom. The students’ bravery, however, is most often unshaken by these hostile conditions. To match their bravery, the public must support them as they continue speaking out for justice and demanding better from their universities. We must not ease the pressure on universities who continue to suppress the free speech of Muslim and pro-Palestinian students whose only aim is to stop the genocidal Israeli actions in Palestine.
Ismail Allison is the National Communications Manager for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
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