Carnegie Mellon Punishing 10 Pro-Palestinian Activists for Free Expression

CONTACT: media@palestinelegal.org

July 29, 2026, Pittsburgh, PA — Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) has opened Title VI investigations into 10 activists, barring 8 of them from campus after they painted pro-Palestinian messages on the university's century-old free speech fence. Today, Palestine Legal sent a legal letter to the CMU President's office demanding the university end its discriminatory treatment of advocates for Palestinian freedom, conform with its own speech policies, and comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

"The Fence" is a structure students are permitted to paint on as a "student-centered space for free expression and community." The university broke with that tradition by repeatedly censoring pro-Palestinian messages and falsely characterizing them as "threatening" and "antisemitic," including messages painted by Jewish students criticizing Zionism.

● June 9th: The Fence is painted with a Palestinian flag and the quote "75 years of apartheid, 56 years of occupation, 16 years of blockade" from South Africa's 2023 genocide case against Israel before the International Court of Justice. The phrase "Free Palestine by any means necessary" was also painted, and condemned by the CMU President in a university-wide email .

● June 28th: The Fence is painted by Jewish students with the message: “Forcing Ideological Conformity (Zionism) on Jews is Anti-semitic – FREE PALESTINE”. The other side of the fence was painted with a historic slogan from the General Jewish Labor Bund : “Here where we live, that is our country” in Yiddish, and “Death to Zionism”. The words on The Fence were censored in their entirety, and another campus-wide communication condemned the students' wording as threatening.

● June 30th: The Fence is painted to protest CMU's silencing of Jewish voices with the message: “Stop Censoring Anti-Zionist Jewish Voices” on the front and “Anti-Zionism ≠ Anti-Semitism.”

● July 1st: In protest of repeated university censorship, The Fence is painted with: “Death to Sexism” and receives no university response.

● July 3rd: The Fence is painted with: "Multiple Choice: Which Will they Censor? Death to: fascism, apartheid, zionism, colonialism, racism” and CMU only censors the word zionism, President issues another public statem ent .

● July 4th: The Fence is painted with “21,000+ Children murdered due to Zionism” and “Who are the ones inciting violence here?,” to underscore how the ideology of Zionism has incited genocide and mass violence against Palestinians in Gaza. CMU initiated additional disciplinary investigations in response.

CMU's punishment of activists and inconsistent responses to the messages they painted demonstrate a clear bias and political motivation to suppress pro-Palestinian speech, flying in the face of the university's stated commitment to free expression.

"In censoring our fence paintings, Carnegie Mellon is showing it is more concerned about the possibility people find the language we use offensive than the reality of Zionism’s genocidal violence," stated Rosalyn Tosh , one of the students under investigation. "We won’t stop drawing attention to this reality and protesting CMU's complicity in it.”

“Carnegie Mellon has silenced, condemned, and sought to punish the fence painters for expressing pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist opinions,” says Jannine Masoud from Palestine Legal, an attorney representing the fence painters. “This blatant act of censorship is the exact opposite of the free expression and exchange of ideas that universities exist to foster, and it sends a message that Palestinians and those who support them cannot fully participate in campus life without fear of retaliation."

The activists are demanding CMU's administration:

● Immediately close investigations of the paintings by police or disciplinary offices, and as such:

○ Withdraw associated Title VI complaints.

○ Lift associated campus access restrictions.

○ Issue apologies directly to the impacted individuals.

● Collaborate with CMU's Student Government to implement the recommendations of the Fence Working Group in a manner which codifies students' right to free expression on The Fence, including for political statements.

● Issue a public apology for its President's role in cultivating fear and hostility on campus.

Activists are circulating a petition with these demands, which they're encouraging people to sign and circulate as a show of solidarity: https://tinyurl.com/cmu-free-speech-2026 . People are also encouraged to email the CMU administration with their concerns regarding free expression on campus using this action tool .

Eight organizations including Jewish Voice for Peace, the Sunrise Movement, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), and Palestine Legal have issued a joint letter condemning CMU's censorship and calling on the university to drop its investigations into the fence painters.

Jewish Voice for Peace has released a press release about CMU's censorship and the Jewish Voice for Peace Academic Council has also issued a statement of support.

Carnegie Mellon students who were involved in painting the fence are available for interviews, as well as their attorney from Palestine Legal and representatives from Jewish Voice for Peace.