Attorneys in the Civil Litigation department of the Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA) filed a federal complaint on behalf of University of Texas at Dallas (“UTD”) Professors Rosemary Admiral and Ben Wright, for harms they suffered when UTD and Texas officials instructed law enforcement to make arrests at a peaceful protest. These professors endured arrest, shackles, and unlawful subsequent treatment by UTD personnel and Texas officials for simply exercising their constitutional rights. Professors Admiral and Wright stood peacefully with student protestors, broke no laws, and yet suffered these harms anyway.
On May 1, 2024, Professors Admiral and Wright joined peacefully protesting students who brought attention to Palestinians in Gaza. These professors cared about the well-being and safety of their students; when they acted on their concerns by peacefully standing with students in public spaces, UTD and Texas officials caused a chain of unlawful and humiliating events.
Following their arrests, the University first barred the professors from campus, then severely restricted their access to offices and classrooms, and damaged their professional reputations with knowingly false statements. Despite Texas officials’ outright requests for the opposite result, law enforcement dropped all charges against these professors. Because again, they broke no laws.
Professors Admiral and Wright acted in the spirit of what higher education represents at its best: moral courage, intellectual honesty, and care for students. Campuses like UTD owe students and faculty a safe place for difficult conversations and principled disagreement. Instead, UTD officials—directed by Texas officials—did all they could to criminalize the Professors’ legal and genuine actions, and punish them via their employment terms when silencing them failed.
“I love Texas, and I love UTD. But for the past few years, leaders of our state and our university have flouted the Constitution and attacked students for their commitments to human rights in Gaza. Those illegal actions must be confronted. My hope is that this lawsuit will help protect our courageous students and colleagues who continue to exercise their Constitutional rights in fighting for a better world, both on campus and beyond.”
– Professor Wright
“I am proud to benefit from the patriotic American tradition of the right to free speech and peaceful protest. Pro-Palestinian speech is free speech, and to censor that speech is un-American and un-Texan. People in America have the right to criticize the actions of a foreign government.”
– Professor Admiral
“We have the honor to represent these well-qualified professors. Their actions on the day of their arrests included conducting a read-in with students, bringing students academic materials, and speaking with the students—in other words, doing their jobs. When the students expressed fear at seeing a wall of law enforcement in riot gear coming toward their peaceful protest, our clients stood for the students and peacefully attempted to communicate. But Texas had ordered the opposite, and wanted nothing to do with communication. Officials arrested these professors—who broke no laws—then unjustly interfered with their employment. These professors deserve our respect. Texas officials failed them. We hope the courts will not.
– Christina A. Jump, Civil Litigation Department Head
“Criminalizing professors for standing with their students and speaking out against injustice strikes at the heart of academic freedom and the First Amendment. This courage should be celebrated—not punished. We filed this lawsuit not only to seek justice for our clients, but to make clear that these lawless and retaliatory actions will not stand unchallenged. Universities must be bastions of free thought, not instruments of political repression.”
– Jinan Chehade, Civil Litigation Junior Staff Attorney
For questions regarding MLFA’s representation of this legal matter, please contact the following:
Christina A. Jump, Civil Litigation Department Head, via [email protected]
