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NJIT sued for claim of bias, ill treatment

Palestinian organization baned, lawsuit says

By: Hannan Adely
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... Student at the New Jersey Institute of Technology have filed a civil rights lawsuit against the university, alleging discrimination after the school refused to recognized th8eir chapter of Students for Justice of Palestine.
..... The complaint. filed November 18 [2025] in state Superior Court in Essex county, alleges that NJIT and several administrators violated the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination by denying officials recognition of the chapter and subjecting its members to :egregious race, ancestry and national origin.
..... Students started the chapter in September 2023 and formally applied to be recognized as a student organization the following January. [2024]
..... But the six plaintiffs say they faced repeated obstacles from officials at NJIT, a Newark-based public university with about 13,000 students.
..... Administrators said in meetings hat they would not recognize the chapter, according to the lawsuit. When a student organizer asked for a decision in writing, Dean of Student Marybeth Boger emailed him in January 2024 that NJIT would not officially recognize the group due to concerns about "disruptions and policy violations supported by [the national chapter of SJP] at other universities."
..... NJIT declined to comment. "New Jersey Institute of Technology does not comment on litigation matters,' a university spokesperson said.
..... The complaint accuses the university of hostile conduct and mistreatment. In December 2023, NJIT would not allow the chapter to participate in a student fair, the lawsuit says.
..... In another incident at the campus center, an administrator allegedly yelled at students involved with SJP after they asked for tape, first saying they "are not entitled to anything," and again yelled at them for using a table at the center that a student organization had offered to share, the lawsuit alleges.
..... Additionally, an NJIT mathematics professor named in the lawsuit is accused of sending emails to administrators upset over a planed SJP event and likening Palestine supporters to terrorists, the lawsuit says. The professor also allegedly "harassed" Christ Won, associate director for diversity and inclusion, who had defended ht Palestinian student group - peppering him while he gave a presentation with "aggressive inquisitions" about what NJIT was doing to protect Jewish students, the lawsuit says. The professor did not respond to a request for comment.
..... The complaint also says Chief Diversity Officer David Jones demanded that Won remove SJP from a document he kept that listed identity-based student organization because it was "not a recognized student organization.
..... Won said his list was not an official document, but a spreadsheet he kept in a shared drive and that he used for contacting student groups. It appeared someone had opened the file and complained. Other groups that did not have official recognition ere also on the list, but only SJP was signaled out, he said.
..... The students are seeking formal recognition of their SJP chapter, compensatory and punitive damages and a declaratory judgment that NJIT violated civil rights laws. They are represent by attorney Lindsy A McKillop of the law Office of Rajeh A Saadeh LLC.

What does the law say?

..... SJP chapters have been criticized for anti-Israel slogans and for protest tactics including sit-ins and encampments seen as disruptive or intimidating. At some campuses, members have sued language that critics say condones extremism.
.....Supporters say the student organization has been a key voice raising awareness about Palestinian rights and Israeli policies they view as unjust. The chapter also host teach-ins, vigils, film screenings, cultural celebrations and divestment campaigns.
..... Under the law, a public university cannot refuse to recognize an organization based on actions of other chapters, Robert Shibley, senior counsel at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a group that advocates for free speech on college campuses, said in an interview last year. [2024]
..... He pointed to Healy v. James, a precedent-setting Supreme Court decision in 1972. The court determined it was unconstitutional for Central Connecticut State College to refuse to recognize a chapter of Students for a Democratic Society based on disruptiveness at tis national organization.
..... "A public college cannot refuse to recognize a group based on the fear that they might be disruptive or break rules," Shibley said. "There has to be some evidence that the chapter that is on that individual campus is either going to break rules or has members who have a history of causing problems."

Administrator speaks out

..... NJIT also faces an investigation by the Department of Education Civil Rights Division over allegations of anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim bias, launched in April 2024.
..... Won and student organizer Yahya Habehh, one of the plaintiffs, spoke about the matter in interviews at the time. Habeeh said he and other Palestinian stunts felt marginalized "as if we weren't part of the community."
..... Won, who left his job at NJIT, said Palestinian students were treated as if they were threats or problems. "You are talking about students who are witnessing relative abroad being murdered, and while they are asking to protest about that, they are being told no," he said.
..... Administrators focused on concerns about Jewish students' safety but did not consider Palestinian students' concerns about safety and inclusion, he said.
..... Safety comes with a sense of fairness or equity," said Won. "If a student precieves or fells there are examples of them being mistreated or treated differently than other students, the would give them a sense of unsafety. And that's what student who are Palestinian, who are Muslim, can definitely see and experience at NJIT."

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