Pro-Palestinian Protesters Disciplined At Towson University, Sparking Debate

TOWSON, MD — The discipline of pro-Palestine student protesters sparked a free speech debate this week at Towson University.

The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Maryland sent a letter to the college Monday, asking the school to clear the students' disciplinary records and improve its First Amendment policies. The ACLU said it is willing to sue if necessary.

"Towson University's effort to silence these students violates their free speech rights guaranteed to them by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution," Nick Taichi Steiner, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU, wrote in the letter to University President Mark Ginsberg. "[The discipline] has chilled the students' ability to hold other demonstrations out of fear of retaliation from the University."

The university, however, says it welcomes all viewpoints and has since had several demonstrations with a variety of stances on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

"Towson University upholds the first amendment and not only protects, but encourages opportunities for students, faculty and staff to gather and have dialogue," a university spokesperson told Patch in a Wednesday email. "During the spring semester, gatherings or demonstrations were held on campus, sharing varying viewpoints while in alignment with university policies. As we prepare for the start of a new academic year, we look forward to continuing to foster a campus where all perspectives are welcome."

The debate centers around a Nov. 15, 2023 "die-in" event protesting Israel's military strikes in Gaza, a contested territory of Palestinians governed by the Hamas militant group. Hamas invaded Israeli border towns in October 2023, killing Israelis and taking hostages. Israel responded with its own deadly air and artillery strikes on Gaza.

The ACLU said the Towson Colonized People's Revolution held the protest at Tiger Plaza, a 21,000-square-foot lawn on campus, and included no more than 16 people at its peak.

Five students received "a deferred suspension," the ACLU said, noting that one student's punishment was later downgraded to probation.

The ACLU said Towson based its discipline on its regulations for non-registered student groups that relegate them to protests at two locations other than Tiger Plaza.

However, the ACLU argued that the protesters are enrolled at the publicly-funded Towson University, which should grant them the same free speech rights at Tiger Plaza as registered student groups.

"Finally, the application of the time, place, and manner policies to Towson CPR and the disciplined students is unlawful because the time lag for becoming a registered organization (and thus able to reserve space) unlawfully delays the ability to speak," the ACLU said. "The First Amendment requires accommodation of demonstrations without meaningful delay."

The ACLU called for:

• An expungement of the students' disciplinary records
• A review of Towson's free speech policies
• Counseling on how to handle future protests for administrators and law enforcement

"We hope that our concerns about TU’s policies, and the discipline imposed in this case can be resolved without the need for litigation, but we are prepared to bring suit," the ACLU said.

Towson said it welcomes discussions with the ACLU, but it maintained that the discipline is already finalized.

"The student conduct process on the matter at hand is complete," the university spokesperson said. "We look forward to the opportunity to discuss with the ACLU the facts of the matter."

The full ACLU letter is posted here.