Duke University has returned its Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter to full status, reversing an earlier decision to suspend the group and freeze its funding over an antisemitic social media post published last month, JNS reported on Tuesday.
The university’s Office of Institutional Equity reviewed a March 13 post shared by the group, which featured a graphic originally published in the Black Panther Party’s newspaper in 1970. The image depicted two pigs, one labeled “US imperialism" holding the Statue of Liberty’s torch and the other labeled “Zionism" holding a Star of David. Officials concluded that the post did not breach university regulations.
“The post, while offensive, in that it alludes to antisemitic tropes, does not violate the Policy on Prohibited Discrimination, Harassment and Related Misconduct because there was insufficient information to support the existence of a hostile educational environment," Sharon Gooding, associate vice president for institutional equity, wrote on April 23.
Following the determination, the Office of Student Affairs lifted both the suspension and the funding freeze. However, the university required that the controversial post remain permanently deleted.
In a statement to the student newspaper The Duke Chronicle, SJP claimed the suspension was part of a larger pattern of “silencing, sidelining and suppressing its own students."
SJP has been sanctioned by several US universities over its anti-Israel activities.
The group was suspended by George Washington University in November 2023 after projecting messages critical of Israel and the university onto Gelman Library. Additional sanctions were imposed following involvement in a pro-Palestinian Arab encampment in August 2024, including a probationary period that was in effect at the time of the recent violations.
George Washington University later barred SJP from campus activities through at least May 18, 2026.
In November of 2023, Columbia University suspended both SJP and Jewish Voice for Peace, citing “repeatedly violated University policies related to holding campus events" by the two groups.
Previously, Brandeis University announced it is revoking recognition of the campus chapter of SJP, saying the group “openly supports Hamas".
In another instance, the University of Maryland revoked a permit it had given to SJP to hold an anti-Israel vigil on the anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel. SJP later filed a federal lawsuit against the school.
In August of 2025, Adelphi University in Garden City, New York, placed its SJP chapter on disciplinary probation for one year, following concerns that social media posts from the group created a hostile environment for Jewish students.