The Office of Student Conduct accused Students for Justice in Palestine at Pitt of violating the Student Code of Conduct at a December gathering SJP’s leaders say they didn’t organize.
Following a study-in organized by students at Hillman Library during the last week of the fall semester, the Office of Student Conduct is requiring SJP to complete a conduct hearing. As the only registered Palestine advocacy club at Pitt, potential sanctions may throw the future of pro-Palestinian organizing on campus into question.
The proposed sanctions recommended by the University include banning SJP from hosting, co-hosting or participating in events through May 5, placing the organization on probation through the end of 2025 and requiring club leaders to engage in a series of “educational conversations” to learn, among other topics, University event policies and leadership strategies, according to documents and emails shared by SJP with The Pitt News.
At the study-in, students surrounded themselves with Palestinian flags, keffiyehs and signs with messages such as “hands off Palestine” and “there are no universities left in Gaza” while studying at tables.
SJP’s co-presidents first learned of the conduct violation charges when they received an email from Director of Student Conduct Matthew Landy on Jan. 16 informing them that the Office of Student Conduct believes SJP was involved in “an incident or series of incidents” beginning on Dec. 9 that required a disciplinary conference. The email did not cite any specific action SJP members took that violated the Student Code of Conduct.
At the disciplinary conference on Jan. 22, Landy provided SJP’s co-presidents with a list of proposed sanctions, the alleged violations and an incident report.
Landy claimed that SJP, a registered student organization, failed to “comply with the lawful direction of a University official, or other lawful authority having just cause and acting in the performance of their duties and authority.” In the incident description, the Office of Student Conduct said students at the study-in repeatedly ignored requests to vacate the library by University staff and police.
The club’s full hearing will take place on Feb. 4 where a Hearing Board will decide whether to find SJP in violation of the Code of Conduct and sanction the organization.
The Pitt News spoke with SJP’s two co-presidents — one of whom is Palestinian — and a Jewish SJP board member. The three students were granted anonymity due to past threats and experiences of doxxing.
The Office of Student Conduct alleged that SJP “promoted and hosted an event” in a non-reservable part of the library, according to the incident description provided to SJP by the office. Posts from SJP’s Instagram at the time attribute the gathering to “autonomous student activists.” A club co-president said SJP did not organize this gathering and only made these posts to “amplify” the study-in.
“The University is operating under the assumption that pro-Palestinian advocacy groups wouldn’t amplify other pro-Palestinian actions,” they said.
SJP leaders said they could not speak to whether or not SJP members were present at the study-in.
The Disciplinary Conference notice email from Landy ended by informing the co-presidents that “the conduct process will move forward regardless of your participation.”
Ruth Mostern, a history professor at Pitt and a member of Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine, said she attended the study-in for a couple hours across multiple days. She said she was “shocked” to learn the University brought a conduct hearing against SJP.
“It was just the same atmosphere as any other group of students studying for a final exam,” Mostern said. “They had their flags and banners, they had messaging on the backs of their computers, they wrote some messages on whiteboards, but once they had done that, they were just sitting there.”
The Pitt News reached out to the University for comment from Landy. In an emailed statement attributed to Landy from a University spokesperson, Landy did not elaborate on the conduct process, saying “our approach to student conduct is to respect the privacy and integrity of ongoing investigations.”
“The conduct process is an educational process designed to support our students in understanding and upholding community standards and the Code of Conduct,” Landy said.
Landy was not available for an interview with The Pitt News, according to University spokesperson Jared Stonesifer.
Mostern said when she was present at the study-in, students complied with administration requests to erase signage from whiteboards and dispersed in the library when requested by Karin Asher, the assistant dean for student engagement and professional development.
“I saw nothing but compliance the whole time I was there,” Mostern said.
Landy also claimed the organization committed violation 19k, a catch-all for any policy, procedure or guideline violation that is not listed in the Code of Conduct or the twelve documents listed under violation 19. The specific action SJP members took to receive this second alleged violation is unclear.
According to SJP leaders, Landy presented two screenshots of Instagram stories posted to SJP’s account as evidence of violation of policy violations. One story encouraged people to get their friends to participate in the study-in, while the other reiterated the study-in’s purpose.
The co-presidents chose to challenge the alleged violations and the proposed sanctions, a decision which one co-president said felt necessary to retain a student organization for Palestinian advocacy.
“We can’t admit to violations when those violations haven’t been specified to us,” they said. “And we’re also not willing to blindly accept what essentially amount to an effective suspension.”
SJP leaders argued that the study-in was no different than other 24-hour study sessions hosted by fraternities and sororities in Hillman. At least two registered Greek life organizations at Pitt held overnight studying sessions, with one sorority utilizing a non-reservable space at the same time as the sit-in, though they did not promote it on social media.
On Wednesday, an SJP co-president said the organization has three witnesses that will testify at the full hearing. The leader added that they are trying to get a lawyer to help represent the club in the hearing. Mostern said she and two other faculty members will be present at the full hearing.
The SJP board member said they thought it was “ridiculous” for the co-presidents, who are both undergraduates, to have to potentially miss classes to meet the demands of the conduct hearing process.
“They’re being expected to rearrange their schedules, recruit people to testify, write all these documentations, read all these emails, write the emails back, also be a lawyer and understand policies and procedures and read detailed, long lists,” the board member said. “They’re supposed to be going to class. They already have responsibilities and outside stressors.”
In the time since SJP’s leadership learned about the conduct hearing, they shared information with their club’s members and the greater University community.
Around 100 students and community members gathered in the William Pitt Union Assembly Room on Monday evening for an “emergency meeting.” SJP’s co-presidents informed attendees about the proposed sanctions and held discussion groups among members. Three police officers, whom SJP leadership said they did not request, stood outside the Assembly Room while the meeting took place.
At Tuesday night’s Student Government Board meeting, a representative for SJP raised concerns about the University’s actions against the organization. Some SGB board members, including President Sarah Mayer, acknowledged SJP’s concerns and left open the possibility of further meetings to discuss the issue.
Ahead of the full hearing on Feb. 4, SJP’s co-presidents described their current situation as “very frustrating,” “isolating” and “disheartening.”
“This is kind of, like, the culmination, almost a boiling point, of what I would consider a final, huge push to get the anti-war, anti-genocide movement off of Pitt’s campus,” a co-president said.
Reflecting on the potential for sanctions, one SJP co-president said, “regardless of the outcome … this does not end the fight.” The other co-president said they believe it would be “really, really unwise of the University” to sanction their organization.
“The community and public outrage if SJP is put on probation, suspended — it will be great. It will be substantial,” they said. “I think this would only actually strengthen the pro-Palestine movement in Pittsburgh.”