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The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation\u2019s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, has designated the\u00a0University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) as a\u00a0Hostile Campus\u00a0<\/a>due to its pattern of targeting students who advocate for Palestinian rights and speak out against genocide.<\/p>\n SEE:\u00a0<\/strong>CAIR Designates UIUC as a Hostile Campus<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n \u201cUIUC has cultivated a dangerous climate for students who support justice for Palestine,\u201d<\/em> said\u00a0Corey Saylor,\u00a0CAIR\u2019s Research and Advocacy Director. <\/strong>\u201cThis is not inclusion, it\u2019s institutionalized Islamophobia.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Saylor added: \u201cIt\u2019s actually been beyond crisis and appalling at this point. Universities like UIUC are not just failing to protect their students but actively punishing them for defending human rights.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Despite public claims of inclusion, UIUC has subjected Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, and allied students to surveillance, arrests, felony charges, and policy crackdowns. In 2024, campus police dismantled a peaceful pro-Palestinian encampment, arrested students, and allegedly used license plate readers, video footage, and social media to surveil others. Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) was reportedly disbanded, while the administration imposed harsh protest restrictions that disproportionately target Muslim students.<\/p>\n Civil liberties organizations, including the\u00a0ACLU of Illinois<\/a>, have condemned the university\u2019s criminalization of dissent. UIUC previously\u00a0faced AAUP censure<\/a>\u00a0for violating academic freedom in the case of Palestinian professor Steven Salaita in 2014. In 2025, UIUC received a failing\u00a049.9\/100 free speech score,<\/a>\u00a0with students describing the climate as \u201cvery anti-Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n UIUC is the latest addition to CAIR\u2019s list of\u00a0Hostile Campuses, which now includes more than 20 universities nationwide. Learn more at\u00a0<\/strong>islamophobia.org\/hostile-campuses<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Washington, D.C., CAIR recently launched its \u201cUnhostile Campus Campaign\u201d aimed at fostering a campus environment in which Palestinian, Muslim, Arab, Jewish, and other students, faculty, and staff opposing the genocide in Gaza enjoy free speech and academic freedom and are not subjected to state force or university discipline due to their viewpoints.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Institutions of particular concern may be found at:\u00a0<\/strong>https:\/\/islamophobia.org\/category\/hostile-campuses\/<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n \ufeffStudents, staff, and faculty who wish for their university or college campus to be potentially designated as a hostile campus should complete the\u00a0\u2018Report a Hostile Campus\u2019 form.<\/a> This form is intended solely to inform CAIR\u2019s \u2018UnHostile Campus Campaign.\u2019<\/p>\n Individuals seeking CAIR\u2019s legal and advocacy services should contact their\u00a0local office or chapter<\/a>, or if there is no local chapter,\u00a0file a formal report<\/a>\u00a0with CAIR\u2019s National Civil Rights Department.\u00a0<\/p>\n