Adelphi University has put its Students for Justice in Palestine chapter on probation following an investigation into the organization’s social media posts.
The university’s investigation found that cumulatively, SJP’s social media activity “created a hostile environment towards the Jewish community.”
The student group’s probation took effect on Aug. 7 and extends to the same date next year.
Adelphi launched an investigation into SJP following a complaint lodged by the Brandeis Center for Human Rights at the behest of mathematics professor Tuval Foguel, an Israeli-American. The Brandeis Center is a nonprofit that uses legal avenues to advocate against antisemitism.
“Adelphi’s decision that its SJP chapter has created a hostile environment for Jews is an important victory for Adelphi’s beleaguered Jewish community,” said Rory Lancman, the center’s director of corporate initiatives and senior counsel.
The social media posts in question began in November 2023, a month after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas that precipitated the ongoing Gaza conflict. All were posted on SJP’s Instagram page.
In all, 23 posts were reviewed as part of Adelphi’s investigation, many of them Instagram Stories, which disappear after 24 hours.
For example, one of the stories shared in the report was captioned “Israel is a terror state, and all of its supporters are Zionist terrorists.”
One post alleged that many nursing students at Adelphi “support the genocide and verbally assault Muslim and Arab students on campus.” The report noted that this was concerning, given that the university’s nursing school partners with Brooklyn’s The New Seminary to offer some classes to Orthodox Jews.
While the investigation found that no one post was “objectively and subjectively offensive and so severe or pervasive to itself constitute a hostile environment,” the totality of the content SJP put on Instagram did meet those criteria.
As part of the probation, the student group will have to meet with Adelphi officials to “discuss appropriate social media use and the use of credible news sources,” and move to comply with the school’s social media policy to maintain their affiliation.
The student group has until Aug. 12 to appeal the probation.
Efforts to contact SJP for comment were unsuccessful.
