Guidance for Academic Disruptions

This resource is not intended to provide and should not be construed as legal advice. Please consult with your own legal counsel for legal guidance.

Commencement

As universities begin preparations for the 2025 commencement season and other major events, we urge administrators to take immediate and comprehensive steps to ensure that these milestone events are celebrated with the dignity, joy and safety they deserve. Commencement is a once-in-a-lifetime achievement for graduating students and their families. It must not be overshadowed by disruptions, threats or discriminatory targeting of any student speakers.

In 2024, commencement ceremonies across the country were marred by antisemitic protests, walkouts and disruptions aimed at silencing Jewish voices or derailing the events altogether. These incidents deeply impacted graduates who had worked tirelessly toward this moment and expected their institutions to protect the integrity of their celebration. We must not see a repeat of this in 2025.

To ensure commencement ceremonies, as well as other major campus events and functions, proceed as intended and uphold the values of inclusivity and respect, university leaders should take the following steps:

1. Prevent Disruptions to Ceremonies.

  • Review and strengthen campus policies pertaining to the disruption of school functions or activities. These policies should make clear that intentionally obstructing or interfering with school events is a violation of the school’s code of conduct and will be met with consequences. Such policies should provide clear guidance regarding what conduct is prohibited, followed by a series of examples.
  • Reiterate expectations, campus policies and the consequences of violating them to all members of the campus community well in advance, emphasizing that freedom of expression does not extend to silencing others.
  • Establish and rehearse a robust security protocol, developed with campus security, student affairs, and other stakeholders, that includes procedures for admissions, crowd control, and removal of individuals who continue disruptive behavior after a clear warning.
  • Enforce campus codes of conduct during commencement or event disruptions, and ensure that there are serious consequences for violations, up to and including suspension, expulsion and bans from participating in future campus events where applicable.
  • Coordinate with student affairs, event planners and campus security as appropriate to monitor planned protests or disruptions, and create contingency plans to maintain the dignity and order of the event.

2. Provide Clear Guidance for Speakers.

  • Develop guidance for speakers to ensure their remarks reflect the inclusive spirit of the occasion. Speakers should not use the platform to discriminate or harass others.
  • Set expectations that speeches are moments for unity, celebration and reflection on shared academic journeys.
  • Ensure fair treatment of all speakers by safeguarding their right to speak freely without fear of being disrupted.

3. Support Jewish Students.

  • Proactively communicate to the campus that threats or organized efforts to boycott student speakers based on identity are divisive and can cause harm to the targeted speaker.
  • Include antisemitism awareness and prevention measures in pre-event trainings for faculty, staff and student leaders to foster a campus culture that actively counters harassment, intimidation, and bias.
  • Reach out to Hillel, Chabad, Jewish student organizations, or other trusted partners to better understand how students are feeling in this moment and what resources or support would be most helpful in the lead up to, during, or after ceremonies on campus.
  • Investigate and respond promptly and appropriately to any discriminatory actions – including, but not limited to, harassment, intimidation tactics, personal threats, doxxing – against student speakers, ensuring accountability for those who engage in behavior that violates the code of conduct or law.

    Commencement is a moment of pride and accomplishment that students and families have earned through years of dedication, as well as other major events. It is the responsibility of university leadership to protect that moment. Let it not be defined by division and disruption, but by unity, respect and celebration.

Protests on Campus Territory

Anti-Israel protests and rallies on campus have proliferated in the wake of 10/7, with many marked by severe antisemitic and anti-Zionist incidents. To prevent code of conduct violations at protests and rallies, administrators should:

1. Regularly re-assess campus security measures and ensure that time, place and manner restrictions are up-to-date and known by all members of the campus community.

2. Track announcements of protests and ensure protocols are in place to rapidly respond to code of conduct violations if they occur.

3. Regularly review safety and security procedures with staff and faculty, especially with the campus security teams.

4. Contact law enforcement partners in advance if you have reason to believe that a protest could escalate to violence.

5. Develop clear protest guidelines that outline the ‘dos and don’ts’ of protesting to limit risk of incidents and disruptions to campus operations.

  • Where possible, inform students of specific spaces where protests are permissible.
  • Require protestors to pre-register for protests in certain spaces, and ensure that students understand the processes that must be followed.
  • Communicate and enforce the consequences for violating campus policies during protests.
  • Prohibit vandalism of university property or the attachment of signs and banners to campus property (other than designated areas) without appropriate permission.

6. Prior to, throughout and following the protest, provide support to any campus community that may be impacted by the protest events. During the protest, ensure that non-protesting members of the campus community are not prevented from accessing academic buildings, or university events or activities to limit any interference with their educational experience.

7. Enforce campus codes of conduct during protests and ensure that there are serious consequences for substantial violations, up to and including suspension and expulsion.

8. Make clear that students will not be able to make up exams or receive credit for exams or school work missed due to attending protests.

Sample protest guidelines:

Encampments and Sit-ins

In the spring of 2024, students nationwide set up and maintained more than 130 unauthorized Gaza Solidarity Encampments, often on campus property, in protest against Israel and the Israel-Hamas war. Sit-ins, which are similar to encampments, also occurred nationwide. These protests often violated existing campus policies and were hotbeds for antisemitic activity. On some campuses, encampment protesters refused to leave the encampment until certain of their demands were met.  Many such demands included calls for schools to boycott and divest from companies and organizations affiliated with Israel and disaffiliate with perceived “Zionist” organizations.

Responses to encampments and sit-ins have varied from campus-to-campus, highlighting the need for a standardized strategy to respond to such events. To address encampments and sit-ins, administrators should:

1. Re-assess campus policies and security measures pertaining to overnight protests or the unauthorized erection of temporary or permanent structures on campus to mitigate against the risk of conduct that substantially interferes with the rights of others.

  • Consider whether encampments should be prohibited by campus policies, or restricted through time, place, and manner policies or requirements of pre-registration. 

2. Track online and in-person announcements of imminent encampments.

3. Ensure close coordination with your security and law enforcement teams. Law enforcement must be prepared to take action if conduct becomes criminal in order to protect the safety of all students.

4. Communicate to protestors the consequences for violations of campus policies at encampments, and enforce those consequences.

5. Provide resources, guidance and support to other members of the campus community who are not engaging in the encampments and may experience or witness incidents and/or suffer from disruptions to their learning experience.

Sample responses from universities following encampments:

Sample policies prohibiting encampments:

  • California State University (CSU) System: Directed by the CSU system, all 23 CSU campuses must abide by new Time, Place and manner restrictions, including ‘No Camping, Overnight Demonstrations, Overnight Loitering, Furniture, or Large Household Items.’
  • Rutgers University: Placing or building of structures is prohibited without express permission by Rutgers University. Structures established without permission will be removed and the sponsoring organization, department, and/or individual will be responsible for all related costs. No inflatable structures are permitted. Overnight camping, placement of tents, or encampments will not be permitted.

Faculty Strikes, Walkouts and Classes Held in Protest Areas

Faculty members nationwide have joined the anti-Israel protest movement by striking and walking out during class time. Some have even moved their classes directly into protest zones, forcing Jewish students to make the decision between forgoing their learning and attending class in an environment that may be, at best, uncomfortable and, at worst, outright hostile. These actions have disrupted the academic experiences of countless students and excluded Jewish students from important conversations, potentially leading to reduced learning, heightened stress levels during the academic terms, and negative impacts on grades and mental health.

To minimize faculty-driven disruptions to student learning, administrators should:

1. Initiate discussions with the organizers of anti-Israel faculty organizations, and/or their union representatives, to underscore the disruptive and negative impact of these actions on their students.

2. Make clear that professors and other faculty members cannot cancel class or exams for the purpose of encouraging students to attend protests.

3. Re-assess campus policies pertaining to faculty conduct. Communicate to faculty members the consequences for violating campus policies and ensure that campus policies are enforced.

4. Provide support and guidance to impacted students, including resources to alleviate any disruptions to their learning. Encourage students to report any such disruptions by faculty, and ensure they have the option of anonymous reporting.

Sample policy:

Extra Credit for Protest Activities

As part of the protest movement arising out of Israel-Hamas war, some faculty members have offered extra credit to students if they engage in anti-Israel protest activities. Such assignments risk forcing students to choose between their safety and well-being and their academic performance, pressuring some to participate in protest activities that may be entirely misaligned with their values and identities or may result in exposure to or experiences of antisemitism.

Moreover, providing extra credit for participating in anti-Israel protests signals a potential bias in the classroom, that could impact the grading of other assignments and further polarize students. To avoid and address such incidents, administrators should:

1. Develop clear guidelines for assignments and awarding extra credit that explain the inappropriate nature of assigning extra credit tasks that exclude and polarize members of the campus community. 

2. Make clear that professors and other faculty members cannot offer class credit for participation in protest activities.  Develop clear guidelines on this topic and a short faculty training.

3. Ensure any complaints are promptly investigated and remedied.

Sample policies:

Boycotts of Israeli and Jewish Organizations

Petitions for boycotts of Israeli and Jewish organizations, universities and/or academic institutions have circulated around campuses nationwide, ostracizing Jewish members of the campus community. These also have the potential to damage academic partnerships with Israeli universities and academics, impact Jewish and Israeli studies programs on campus and affect study abroad programs to Israel.

1. Release firm condemnations of such demands, highlighting the fact that they are antithetical to the school’s core values of academic freedom, free speech, civil discourse and open research. Additionally, re-affirm opposition to the broader Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, whether a resolution has been proposed on campus or not.

2. Reassure Jewish members of the campus community that Jewish and Israeli organizations, classes and study abroad programs will not be impacted by such demands.

3. Inform boycott organizers such demands will not be considered or implemented. Do not capitulate to such demands in exchange for compliance with school policies, as that will only incentivize future rules violations and further fuel antisemitism on campus.

4. Publicly elevate existing partnerships with Israeli institutions, encouraging students to consider study abroad opportunities in Israel, featuring the work of Israeli scientists and researchers on their faculty, or who collaborate with their faculty, and highlighting the benefits these associations provide to students and the institution.

Read our backgrounder on the broader BDS movement.

Sample statements opposing BDS:

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