The University of Maryland system has announced that it will not allow students to publicly commemorate the victims of the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks.
Young America’s Foundation has been in contact with a group of pro-Israel UMD-College Park students to discuss participating in one of YAF’s “Stand With Israel” activism initiatives, which include setting up Israeli flag displays–featuring one flag for each person murdered by the radical Islamist terror organization, hosting an expert pro-Israel speaker, and distributing “I Condemn Hamas” pins throughout campus.
With the university’s new ban, none of that would be possible.
UMD’s announcement of the restrictions attempts to justify the decision by claiming, “The intent is not to abridge students’ right to free expression; the intent is, instead, to be sensitive to the needs of our students.”
The university’s claim that this move is not an infringement on free expression is a blatant lie. In reality, it is a direct suppression of students’ rights to publicly recognize and mourn the victims of barbaric terrorists.
The university system is not only undermining the most basic principles of what universities are meant to represent—a space for the free and open exchange of competing ideas–but also doing so to avoid offending Hamas terrorists.
It’s particularly troubling when considering that just last semester, UMD-College Park allowed an unauthorized encampment of pro-Hamas radicals to take over campus for two full weeks. Why did it take so long for the university administrators to step in when something that was actually disruptive and counter to the values of America was happening on campus?
Young America’s Foundation is committed to fighting the current ban and ensuring that students’ First Amendment rights are restored. Far too many “institutions of higher learning” have proven themselves to be, in reality, institutions of leftist indoctrination. It’s now more important than ever that students learn the disturbing truth of the pro-Hamas movement they’ve blindly and naively chosen to follow.
