U of M president says new policy in the works after pro-Palestinian protest at honors convocation

University of Michigan President Santa Ono says a draft policy is being crafted governing disruption of university operations, as tensions on the Ann Arbor campus rise amid the continuing Israel-Hamas war.

A pro-Palestinian protest disrupted an honors convocation at the university on Sunday and activists are planning another demonstration on Thursday afternoon.

“We will not shy away from protecting the values we hold dear,” said Ono in an email Tuesday night to university students, faculty and staff. “Those who participate in disruptive activity will be held accountable. Such accountability is one of the ways that we uphold our commitments to one another and our entire community.”

The protests have focused on forcing the university to not only divest from companies with financial ties to Israel, but also from companies they say are profiting from Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Pro-Palestinian activists note that the university divested from companies with financial ties to Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022.

The war in Gaza started with an Oct. 7 Hamas surprise attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 Israelis, most of them civilians, and resulted in the taking of 253 hostages, including Americans. Since then, the death toll from Israel’s retaliatory attacks has topped 32,500 people, with an additional 74,980 people having been injured, per Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry.

There have been a number of pro-Palentianan demonstrations on campus, including a November sit-in at Ono’s office where 40 people were arrested. Students Allied for Freedom & Equality (SAFE), also known as the university’s local Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), also held a peaceful march to Ono’s home in December.

On Tuesday night, Ono addressed the escalating tensions on campus with an email to students, faculty and staff, saying the protest at Sunday’s honors convocation had “brought profound disappointment” to both students and their loved ones who had come to celebrate their academic success.

“Like many of you, I am proud of our university’s history of protest,” said Ono. “But none of us should be proud of what happened on Sunday. We all must understand that, while protest is valued and protected, disruptions are not. One group’s right to protest does not supersede the right of others to participate in a joyous event. The protesters’ intrusion on one of the university’s most important academic traditions was unacceptable. It was not in keeping with our student code and our longstanding policy on freedom of speech and artistic expression. It was painful for everyone who had gathered – and especially so for members of our Jewish community.”

Ono said the university would begin work on a draft policy governing disruption of university operations, including academic and social activities, events, gatherings, and celebrations.

In furtherance of that draft policy, the university has created an online survey to collect input from students, faculty and staff. The survey will remain open through 11:59 p.m. April 3.

The TAHRIR Coalition, which describes itself as a coalition of more than 90 student member organizations “fighting for divestment from Israel,” plans to hold an emergency rally on the University of Michigan’s Diag Thursday. 

“In the past week, the U-M Administration has ramped up its repression of pro-Palestininan protestors, issuing university-wide statements targeting a Palestinian student for her private social media posts and threatening student protestors who disrupted an honors convocation to protest the university’s investments in Israel, genocide, and war,” stated the group, which said it planned to announce results of its “tri-campus Divest! Don’t Arrest People’s Referendum, in which thousands of students, staff, and faculty have participated.”

‘Death and worse’

Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is raising concerns about antisemitism amid an online post it says threatens death to anyone supporting Israel.  

The post in question, which has since been deleted, stated, “Until my last breath I will utter death to every single individual who supports the Zionist state. Death and more. Death and worse.” It was posted to the Instagram account of one of the leaders of the pro-Palestinian movement on the Ann Arbor campus. 

On Sunday night, Martino Harmon, the university’s vice president for student life, sent an email to students, faculty and staff concerning the Instagram post made Friday. 

“We unequivocally condemn the student’s message,” said Harmon. “It is the very opposite of the values and ideals we hold dear. The message caused fear and pain across our community. It does not represent who we are or who we hope to be. We are better than this. The university denounces all calls for violence in the strongest possible terms.”

Harmon said while the university had reaffirmed its commitment to free speech earlier this year, that commitment “does not extend to threats, or to any kind of conduct that violates the law or university policy” an “unequivocally” condemned the student’s message. 

He said out of an abundance of caution, they were increasing security patrols on and around campus and encouraged students to contact administration if they see or experience something that raises concern. 

“Violations of law or University policy will result in appropriate consequences, up to and including expulsion,” the email stated. “Conduct that may violate criminal law will be referred to federal, state, or local prosecutors.”

The ADL wrote a letter Monday to Ono condemning both the Instagram message, as well the protest at the honors convocation on Sunday, as antisemitic in nature and in need of immediate action.

“These episodes are just the latest in a string of unanswered incidents of antisemitism on the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus, with Jewish students and faculty feeling harassed, threatened and fearful for their safety and wellbeing,” stated the letter, which was signed by CEO Jonathan Greenblatt and Carolyn Normandin, the ADL’s regional director. 

Normandin told the Advance that the ADL is calling on the university to do two things.

“One, take immediate action to hold accountable students on campus who have violated the University of Michigan’s code of conduct or any other applicable laws,” she said. “And in reference to the convocation, we asked for a clear plan on how the university would make sure that commencement will not be disturbed.”

But the student has received some support. On Monday, SAFE UMich issued a statement against what it called an “inflammatory administration attack” against a Palestinian student whom they said  had been “unjustly targeted.” The group said the student admitted to making the post, but did so while grieving the loss of 14 family members in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza. 

Pro-Palestinian groups rally at the Capitol as Israel-Hamas war continues

While Ono did not specifically address the Instagram post, he did discuss the issue of disciplinary measures that might be taken against students who disrupt activities and take other acts deemed in violation of university policies.

“The university cannot share that kind of information, but declining to discuss a particular case does not imply that disciplinary action did not or will not occur,” said Ono.

Normandin said while the ADL strongly supports everyone’s right to freedom of speech, it does not automatically include freedom from consequences. 

“We are asking for a full throated response about what further action will be taken,” she said. “I understand that there are privacy issues here, but there was nothing private about an Instagram post putting forth death and more death and worse, that’s not very private.”