Georgia Tech Students Defeat Censorship Campaign
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Source: YDSA Georgia Tech Facebook page
Updated November 8, 2019
In a victory for people power, the Georgia Tech chapter of Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) announced today that its appeal was successful and all sanctions were overturned. The students’ petition to the university had amassed 960 signatures and 68 organizational sign-ons by that time. Combined with a formal appeal drafted with the support of Project South, a powerful letter to the editor in their school paper, and on-campus organizing, the petition sent a strong message to Georgia Tech administrators that students would not sit idly by as the university trampled on their First Amendment rights. YDSA celebrated the reversal of the sanctions against the group by announcing plans to host a Palestine 102 educational presentation before the end of the semester. “We want to continue to center the voices and experiences of Palestinians and their allies,” YDSA explained in a message to its supporters.
The Georgia Tech chapter of Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) has been sanctioned by the university for refusing to allow a non-student employee of Hillel to attend their general meeting and offer a “counter-narrative” promoting Israel.
The students, who are representing themselves, have appealed the decision and need your support.
Last spring, YDSA had invited Palestinian and Jewish speakers to their April 1 general meeting to educate YDSA members about the Palestinian struggle for freedom and equality. Prior to the event, a Hillel employee sent out a mass email condemning “organizations that view Israel as a colonialist entity” and announcing plans to offer a “counter-narrative” at the YDSA event.
When the Hillel employee tried to enter the meeting, YDSA leaders turned them away, explaining that they had seen their email and did not want them to disrupt the presentations.
The Hillel employee, along with a student who attended and heckled the speakers during the meeting, then filed complaints against YDSA. Though Georgia Tech does not require club events to be open to the public, the university investigated the complaints, which focused not only on turning away the Hillel employee but also on the content of the event.
Though Georgia Tech’s policies call for investigations to be resolved within 30 business days, the investigation ran through the spring, summer, and into the fall semester. The Hillel employee variously claimed that they had been turned away because of their affiliation with Hillel, because they are Jewish, or because of their support for Israel. Unrefuted evidence showed that YDSA did not question any attendees about their religious or political views and did not question anyone other than the Hillel employee about their affiliation with Hillel. Student members of Hillel, Jewish students, and supporters of Israel were all present at the meeting.
This month the university notified that YDSA that it had violated a prohibition on “objectively offensive conduct” based on a protected characteristic. The university did not specify either the offensive conduct YDSA was alleged to have engaged in or the protected characteristic that was alleged to have motivated the conduct.
The university’s sanctions against YDSA include a requirement that YDSA organize discussions with three other on-campus clubs to discuss differing viewpoints on subject matters within the next two months, a period that includes Fall Recess, Thanksgiving, reading period, and final exams. The discussions must be pre-approved by the university and advertised for at least two weeks.
"Georgia Tech is punishing student advocacy for Palestinian rights by subjecting YDSA to a drawn-out investigation and imposing sanctions that are virtually impossible for them to fit into their busy schedules," said Palestine Legal staff attorney Zoha Khalili. “Investigating YDSA over the political content of its event and forcing students to express viewpoints they do not agree with are both violations of their First Amendment rights."
Tell Georgia Tech to reverse its sanctions and issue an apology to YDSA.