Court orders University of Missouri to allow Students for Justice in Palestine to participate in homecoming parade
Matthew Sanders
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect that homecoming takes place Sept. 27.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A federal judge on Friday ruled that the University of Missouri must let a student group that opposes Israel’s war in Gaza participate in its homecoming parade, with conditions.
Judge Stephen Bough of Missouri’s federal Western District court entered a preliminary injunction forcing UM System President Mun Choi to allow Mizzou Students for Justice in Palestine to participate in next Saturday’s homecoming parade, as long as the group’s entry “complies with the Parade Policy.”
Ahmad Kaki, a Staff Attorney with The Council on American-Islamic Relations that represented the student group, tells ABC 17 News that MSJP is happy to adhere to any requirements that are equally applied.
That policy says the purposes of the parade are to celebrate MU, cultivate alumni connections, honor university-selected achievements and rally support for the Missouri Tigers in their game against the University of Massachusetts.
The policy also reads:
“It is not an open forum for expression on topics identified by participants, but rather is limited to expression on topics identified by the University for the purposes noted above. The University provides ample other opportunities for participants to express themselves on topics of interest to them.”
Bough’s order opens with a Benjamin Franklin quote:
“Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom — and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech.”
CAIR sued on behalf of the student group after its application for a parade entry was rejected for the second straight year. Choi cited “disturbances” associated with the student group, according to records obtained by ABC 17 News.
“When when they wanted to join the parade last year, they sought to express specific messages, in large part because the university allowed everybody else to do it,” Kaki said.
Kaki called the move by the University and Choi disheartening for the students of MSJP.
“The reason they were excluded was because of messages they’ve expressed in the past. It’s because of the viewpoints that they hold, their viewpoints critical of Israel and supportive of the people of Palestine,” Kaki said.
Bough sided with the student group’s interpretation that homecoming parade entries are “private speech,” as opposed to speech that represents a government entity such as MU. He also ruled there was enough evidence to show a “fair chance” that Choi violated the group’s speech rights based on its views about the war in Gaza.
“In support of this conclusion, the Court notes that, in 2024, Dr. Choi did not require any other student organization to attend a special meeting to discuss their intentions for the event, nor did he request that any other group modify its message,” Bough wrote.
The group’s former president was also charged this week with fourth-degree assault for an incident on campus in March. The University cited this as another reason for MSJP’s denied entry, Kaki said the argument was found to be irrelevant in the courtroom.
“It was very telling that their entire argument revolved around her supposed behavior,” Kaki said. “We were able to put Ms. Atallah up on the stand where she said ‘I won’t even be there’ and so the court made it clear that that wasn’t a sufficient excuse for them.”
Representatives for the students and the university were not immediately for comment.
“This is an important victory for the First Amendment and the right of students who support Palestinian human rights to fully participate in campus life,” CAIR national deputy director Edward Mitchell wrote in an email response to ABC 17 News. “It is long past time for colleges and universities across the country to stop attempting to silence and sideline students critical of the Israeli government’s genocide in Gaza.”
A spokesman said MU was reviewing the decision, but the university would not comment on pending litigation, per its established practice.
Bough noted that MSJP wanted to display signs in its parade entry that were not included in its application — “Ceasefire Now” and “Stop the Genocide.”
The group will now work with the MU Alumni Association to ensure they are following all parade policies.
“We expect the university to comply with the court and engage in a meaningful the conversations to a meaningful conversation with the students to ensure that whatever they do is protected,” Kaki said. “If the university says that they’re not allowed to put messages on banners and that’s a rule that’s applied to every other student organization equally, then MSJP will happily comply.”
ABC 17 News reached out to the Alumni Association’s Executive Director Todd McCubbin for more on how they plan to work with MSJP and other student groups to ensure policies are followed, but has not heard back.