Pitt has recently been involved in two court cases involving a faculty member and a student group, which both expressed support for people in Gaza.
On Aug. 21, T. Elon Dancy II, a professor in the School of Education, filed a lawsuit in federal court in Pittsburgh against Pitt and the school’s dean, Eboni M. Zamani-Gallaher.
Dancy alleges that he was removed in October 2024 as the Helen S. Faison endowed chair and executive director of the Center for Urban Education — positions he had held since 2018 — because of his support for Palestinians and other related issues.
A Pitt spokesman said the University does not comment on pending litigation.
Read more about the suit in the Tribune-Review.
In a separate case, a U.S. District Court judge ruled on Aug. 28 that Students for Justice in Palestine can again act as a club on the University of Pittsburgh campus, lifting a suspension imposed last year three weeks ahead of schedule. The suspension stemmed from a 2024 campus protest at Hillman Library and was set to end on Sept. 18.
SJP argued that not being able to participate in student organization information sessions during the first weeks of the fall semester was unduly hurting the group. The case was brought by the ACLU. Read more about it at Public Source.
A Pitt spokesman said after the ruling: “Pitt is committed to maintaining a campus community where free speech is affirmed and free expression is assured. We will comply with the order issued on Thursday but cannot comment further as litigation is ongoing.”
SJP said in an online statement after the ruling: “Now is the time to be protesting, organizing, and calling on our government to end its role in these atrocities. Yet Pitt’s suspension of our organization has stripped us of the very tools we need to do that work: we are barred from holding events, denied the ability to recruit very interested new members, and prevented from raising our voices against Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people.”
— University Times
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