March 11th, 2025

To President Marty Meehan, UMass Amherst Chancellor Javier Reyes, UMass Boston Chancellor Marcelo Suarez-Orozco, UMass Lowell Chancellor Julie Chen, UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Mark Fuller, the Board of Trustees of the UMass System, Governor Maura Healey, Mayor Michelle Wu, the entire UMass Administration, and all Massachusetts Elected Officials:

On the night of Saturday, March 8th, plainclothes Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents unlawfully detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student at Columbia University, in front of his pregnant wife. The officers falsely claimed that Mr. Khalil’s student visa had been revoked, in spite of the fact that he is a Green Card holder and thus a lawful Permanent Resident of the United States. Even after verifying his lawful immigration status, officers proceeded to arrest him anyways, in clear violation of his rights.

This flagrant violation of human rights follows continuing threats by the Trump administration to deport and arrest Pro-Palestine students and an uptick in deportations of immigrants by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In the face of these abhorrent escalations of state repression, the UMass system, apart from a few empty remarks, has chosen silence. To make matters worse, President Trump has recently stated that the arrest of Mr. Khalil is “the first of many to come.”

No longer can the UMass administration remain silent in the face of such brutal state sponsored repression against those who have dared to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their struggle against genocide and occupation. The silence must end.

At UMass Boston, administrators have brought in the Edward Davis Company to surveil and repress student protestors, despite the fact that there was no encampment at UMass Boston. Edward Davis is a former Boston police chief responsible for breaking up the Occupy encampment in 2011. They have also threatened disciplinary charges against staff who have dared to speak out against the administration’s silence in the midst of an ongoing genocide. There has been no need for such repressive measures.

On October 8th, 2024, UMass Boston Vice Chancellor Karen Muniz, and at least 8 officers from the UMass Boston Police Department, showed up to a peaceful vigil mourning the loss of Marcellus Williams and the thousands of martyrs lost in Palestine. They attempted to intimidate us and scare us off, citing the arbitrary space-use policy, which is itself a thinly veiled effort to silence dissent on campus. They have also refused to take a principled stand against ICE, greeting the concerns of their students, faculty, and staff with empty words and non-action. Instead, professors have been forced to put up signs designating their classrooms as private spaces, in an attempt to defend against ICE raids.

Despite constantly reminding us of our status as the third most diverse campus in the country, they seem very uninterested in actually protecting the students they use to improve their image. We do not want empty words, we are tired of the silence, and we are tired of the posturing. We want the administration to meet its words with actions.

UMass Amherst also has built a track record of policing and repression of protest over the past two years. They have justified their brutal repression of the May 7th encampment by appealing to the safety of students, but even the flagrantly biased Prince Lobel report acknowledges that before the arrival of police, the encampment did not pose a credible threat to safety. It was their bringing in hundreds of militarized police to crush peaceful dissent that was the root cause of that night’s violence. Rather than seeking to take accountability for their actions, UMass Amherst has doubled down, subtly increasing surveillance and limiting free speech. The police officers involved in the arrests have faced no disciplinary action to date, and UMass Amherst has increased the presence of cops and cameras on campus. We recognize that this increased surveillance and repression coincides with the increased fascism and repression of the Trump administration.

The actions of the UMass Amherst administration stand in stark contrast with their bold promises of protecting free speech under the Trump administration. The town of Amherst claims to be a sanctuary town. However, the response to pro-Palestine protests from October 2023 to May 2024 do not fall in line with Chancellor Reyes’ promises. We therefore must hold the UMass administration accountable to their promises. We demand that UMass Amherst protect their students, especially those on immigration status, from any federal action repressing pro-Palestine protest.

At UMass Lowell, the administration has actively suppressed discourse on Palestine and issued only one statement addressing the over 500 days of violence in Gaza and the West Bank. On October 28, 2023, Chancellor Chen problematically equated criticism of Israel with bigotry, stating: "We will not tolerate racism, homophobia, antisemitism, Islamophobia, anti-Israel, anti-Palestinian, anti-anything." This framing mischaracterized the situation as a "conflict" between equals, ignoring the documented settler colonial occupation recognized by international human rights organizations. Despite claims of neutrality, the administration has acted contradictorily, recently removing physical and online posters and an online abstract for a lecture on colonialism and genocide by an internationally respected scholar – a blatant violation of academic freedom.

Further undermining academic freedom and free speech, the administration altered its demonstration policy on October 8th, 2024. These actions directly target students’ right to organize and protest—fundamental freedoms essential to democracy and liberal arts education. Such freedoms enable students to engage with complex social issues, develop critical thinking skills, and participate in civic discourse. Despite rhetoric supporting diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, the administration has remained silent on escalating threats facing undocumented, Arab, Muslim, Palestinian, and transgender students, as well as student organizers and other vulnerable campus populations. This silence, coupled with procedural restrictions, compromises the university’s educational mission and undermines the principles of open inquiry that public universities should uphold.

In light of this increasing escalation by the Trump administration, and given their own complicity in the repression of students, we urgently call on UMass administration and UMass elected officials to:

1. End any and all collaboration with ICE and DHS, both present and future.

2. Take concrete steps to protect students from any state repression that violates our constitutional and human rights. We are willing to work with the UMass administration to come up with concrete plans. These measures include, but are not limited to, providing legal aid, declaring UMass campuses as sanctuary spaces, and prohibiting disciplinary actions against pro-Palestine activism and speech.

3. Make a statement demanding the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil and call on Columbia University to stop all repression of its pro-Palestine student body.

These demands are not unrealistic. The UMass system consistently postures as a progressive institution existing to benefit the communities in which it resides, yet it has consistently fallen short of taking genuinely progressive and community-oriented stances. We understand that the actions taken against Mahmoud Khalil are just the beginning; that the Trump administration will not stop until anyone who refuses to bend to its will has been silenced, imprisoned, or deported.

UMass Boston claims to be “For The Times,” but what does that mean when, in “These Times,” a renewed form of fascism is rearing its head? UMass Amherst calls on its students to “Be Revolutionary,” but how can we “Be Revolutionary” when deportation and state repression is constantly looming overhead? UMass Lowell calls on its students to “Learn With Purpose,” but how can meaningful learning occur when academic freedom is curtailed, when diverse voices are silenced, and when vulnerable students face threats without institutional support?

The University must be a sacred place for students, faculty, and staff. What has happened to Mahmoud Khalil is unacceptable, what has happened to our immigrant brothers and sisters is unacceptable, and we know it is only the beginning. No community should experience or fear this repression. We acknowledge, as Angela Davis once said, that if they come for them in the morning, they will come for us at night.

Therefore, we, the undersigned individuals and organizations, stand in solidarity with those, like Mahmoud Khalil, who have been targeted for their activism and their peace and justice work. We call on the UMass system to stop posturing and take a stand against these unacceptable violations of basic civil and human rights. This is your opportunity to lead the way in taking a humane and principled stance by protecting your student body and standing in solidarity to protect all students of conscience everywhere.

Signed,

Students for Justice in Palestine - UMass Boston

Students for Justice in Palestine - UMass Amherst

Palestine Solidarity at UMass Lowell

Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine - UMass Boston

Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine - UMass Amherst

Hoy Pinoy! - UMass Boston

Young Communist League - UMass Boston

Coalition Against Apartheid - Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Palestinian Youth Movement - Boston

Jewish Voice for Peace - Boston

BDS Boston

Dissenters

Students for Justice in Palestine - Northeastern University School of Law

Jewish Law Students Advocating for Justice - Northeastern University School of Law

National Lawyers Guild - Northeastern University School of Law

Huskies for Palestine

Jamaica Plain for Palestine

Boylston Students for Justice in Palestine

Students for Justice in Palestine - Simmons

Women of Color Feminism - UMass Lowell

Sunrise Movement - UMass Amherst

Labor Club - UMass Boston

African Student Union - UMass Boston

Graduate Union Palestine Solidarity Caucus - UMass Amherst

Alt-J - Tufts University

Students for Justice in Palestine - UMass Lowell

MTA Rank and File for Palestine

Beacon Coalition for Action - UMass Boston

Caribbean Islands Club - UMass Boston

Middle Eastern and North African Student Association - UMass Boston

Somali Student Association - UMass Boston

Pakistani Student Association - UMass Boston

Solidarity Caucus (PSU/MTA) - UMass Amherst

Western Mass Chapter Liyang Network

GEO UAW 1596 - UMass Lowell

Students for Justice in Palestine - Hampshire College

Brandeis Jewish Bund

Jews for Collective Liberation - Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Harvard Grad Student Union - BDS

Caucus of Rank-And-File Members - Harvard

Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee

Havard Out of Occupied Palestine

Harvard Jews 4 Palestine

UMass Undergraduate STEM Caucus

UMass Dissenters

Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine - Amherst College

Jewish Voice for Peace - Western Mass

Young Socialists - UMass Amherst

Prison Abolition Collective - UMass Amherst

Young Communist League - UMass Amherst

Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine - Amherst College

Muslim Student Association - UMass Boston

Malden for Palestine

Science for the People - Western Massachusetts
Coalition for Palestinian Liberation - Tufts

Students for Justice in Palestine - Smith College

Quincy for Palestine

Faculty Staff Union - UMass Boston

GEO UAW Local 1596 - UMass Boston