AMHERST — Arrests at a May 2024 Gaza solidarity encampment, alleged discriminatory sanctions and reported failures to address anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian harassment is leading the Council on American-Islamic Relations to declare the University of Massachusetts a hostile campus for Muslim and Palestinian students.

UMass received the designation Tuesday from both the national and Massachusetts chapter of the civil rights and advocacy organization as part of its Unhostile Campus Campaign. CAIR contends that UMass has created a dangerous environment through a pattern of intimidating, suppressing and penalizing “students, faculty and staff who actively oppose the occupation, apartheid, and genocide of the Palestinian people.”

“What is happening at UMass Amherst is more than a local issue. It is part of a national trend of harming Muslim and Palestinian students and their allies for political dissent,” Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, executive director of CAIR-Massachusetts, said in a statement.

UMass is one of 22 colleges and universities nationwide on this “hostile campus” list. Other campuses include Harvard, Michigan, Stanford and Texas.

In its designation decision, CAIR points to both the removal of the encampment on May 7, 2024 that led to the arrest of more than 130 individuals, including students, faculty and community members, and the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opening an investigation following a complaint by Palestine Legal. That complaint states that the university failed to protect Muslim and Palestinian students from online threats and harassment.

CAIR also says it has documented rising anti-Muslim bias in educational environments in its 2025 Massachusetts Bullying Report.

UMass issued a statement defending its actions and the free speech protections offered: “UMass Amherst is committed to ensuring that all students and employees can live, work, learn, and teach in an environment free of harassment. The university has always, and will always, fiercely defend the rights of its community to speak freely under the protections guaranteed by the First Amendment. However, trespassing in closed buildings and constructing fortified encampments are not protected forms of speech.”

With respect to the Office for Civil Rights investigation, UMass notes that it doesn’t comment on active investigations or the accuracy of claims made in purported filings, to protect the integrity of the investigation.

But UMass did rebut what it says were inaccurate statements made by the organization, such as CAIR alleging UMass banned tents, face coverings and essential protest materials. In its statement CAIR links to a policy enacted at the UMass Boston campus,. “UMass Amherst has no such policies and is an entirely separate campus,” the statement said.

In another case, CAIR argues that a militarized police operation led to injuries while the encampment was broken up.

“Students were tackled, pepper-sprayed, and subjected to inhumane treatment, sparking a no-confidence vote from faculty and students in Chancellor Javier Reyes.”

UMass responded, “No tasers, pepper spray, or any other crowd-dispersal tools were used in any demonstration response.”

In the announcement, CAIR wrote, “Until UMass Amherst takes real, accountable action to protect free expression, end discriminatory practices, and uphold the civil rights of all students, it will remain a symbol of institutional complicity in silencing marginalized voices and perpetuating injustice on a hostile campus.”

“UMass has shown a clear disregard for student rights and safety,” CAIR National’s Research and Advocacy Specialist Maryam Hasan said in a statement. “Suppressing free speech and ignoring hate creates a hostile, unsafe campus environment for all who go there.”

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.