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Center for Law and Justice If implemented, the Student Senate’s BDS amendment would prevent students and student groups from exercising their right to affiliate with and support Israel. It also would make Pitzer the first campus in North America to carry out a boycott against Israel. PITZER COLLEGE RESCINDS ITS BDS INITIATIVE, EMBRACING ZOA’S LEGAL ARGUMENT FOR REPEAL Last April, the Student Senate of California’s Pitzer College amended its bylaws to support a boycott of Israel. The amendment prohibited using Student Activities Funds for “payments on goods or services” from certain “corporations and organizations associated with the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories.” Student Activities Funds come from mandatory fees imposed on all students to support extracurricular activities. If implemented, the amendment would prevent students and student groups, such as Hillel, from exercising their right to affiliate with and support Israel. It also would make Pitzer the first campus in North America to carry out a boycott against Israel. The ZOA and other groups urged Pitzer’s leadership to rescind the amendment. In a letter last May, the ZOA informed the leadership that rescinding the amendment was a legal imperative, based on a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2000. The court decided that when universities impose mandatory student activities fees—as Pitzer does—the fees have to be allocated in a viewpoint-neutral basis, in order 16 to comply with the First Amendment. Pitzer is a private institution, but the ZOA argued that since the college represents itself as upholding the First Amendment, it would likely be held to the same standards under the Constitution as a public university. The ZOA informed the trustees that if the Student Senate were permitted to implement its amendment, and thereby prevent student fees from being allocated in a way that supports Israel, the college would be violating the viewpoint-neutrality requirement mandated by the Supreme Court. Based on the statement Pitzer’s Board of Trustees issued last June rescinding the amendment, the trustees were plainly persuaded by the ZOA’s legal argument: Student Activities Funds are derived from mandatory fees the College levies on all students. Consequently, the Board expects the Student Senate to remain neutral in determining the organizations it recognizes and funds, the amount of funding allocated to each organization, and any restrictions imposed on such funds. The trustees decided that the amendment was invalid because it “applies a particular point of view on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in restricting the use of Student Activities Funds by all Student Senate-approved student groups.” It thus “inappropriately curtails the funds usage rights of all such groups, including those that may have a different perspective.” SUSAN TUCHMAN Director, Center for Law and Justice Based on the statement Pitzer’s Board of Trustees issued last June rescinding the amendment, the trustees were plainly persuaded by the ZOA’s legal argument.


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