The Student Association Congress passed a resolution protecting students’ right to organize and protest during its general body meeting on Tuesday.

The “Resolution to Protect the Right to Organize” demands that Binghamton University reaffirm its commitment to protecting students’ rights by releasing a statement and adopting its own version of the Chicago Statement on Free Speech and Expression. After weeks of debate and revisions, the new resolution was approved with 11 votes in favor, six in opposition and four abstentions, according to Blake Goldstein, speaker of the SA Congress and a junior majoring in political science.

The resolution was coauthored by Jayden Cedano, a Mountainview College representative and undecided freshman, and Rob Olbon, a senior majoring in linguistics, after the University released a B-Line statement on Oct. 7, 2025 condemning the actions of the Students for Justice in Palestine during its “For Gaza We Rise” rally. The original resolution, dated Oct. 19, called on the University to retract this statement, while the updated resolution removed this provision.

During the Oct. 21 SA Congress meeting, Cedano said that the protest was peaceful and did not break any rules, but the University’s unsigned statement “effectively implied that there may have been something wrong with this protest.”

“We want to make sure that we say that we are behind all of our students, and that the University is behind all of our students as well,” Cedano said at the meeting.

SA Congress representatives spent weeks debating the resolution’s language. Some members argued the protest’s timing, occurring on the second anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, was one possible reason for the University’s statement.

Yoav Muscal, a Newing College representative and freshman majoring in computer science, said many students felt the timing was insensitive.

“After the first draft of this legislation was introduced to Congress, I had the opportunity to meet and collaborate with the authors of this resolution regarding its wording and content,” Muscal wrote to Pipe Dream. “Together, we were able to create a version that was more inclusive, which allowed for the passing of this important resolution supporting students’ rights at a time where they are under attack.”

In a statement to Pipe Dream, the Binghamton University Zionist Organization said it “supports every student’s right to protest and organize.”

“October 7th marks a tragic day that continues to cause deep pain across our community, and many Jewish and Israeli students found the protests held that day to be deeply insensitive,” BUZO’s statement continued. “We do not question any organization’s right to protest, but rather the choice of that specific day and the intentions behind it. We are happy to see a resolution passed that protects the right to organize, without belittling the events of that day.”

Lotus Taylor, a senior majoring in sociology and chair of the SA Congress’ Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, said the University’s statement was an expression of its own free speech, but argued it was “uncalled for,” “wildly inappropriate” and “not the right way for the University to respond.” She claimed it set a precedent for administrators to intervene with student protesting based on their personal opinions.

“We are living in unprecedented times of oppression, where some valid expressions of free speech are censored and criminalized, squandering the sanctity of the First Amendment in this country and on our campuses, at the discretion of an unchecked higher authority,” SJP wrote to Pipe Dream. “SJP affirms that the right to protest is a necessary right for civil existence: if one right is attacked, all of our rights are under attack. It is incredibly important, now more than ever, that the institutions that guide us use their influence and authority to echo that same affirmation.”

Other representatives suggested breaking the resolution to vote on different parts of it, but some felt this would lessen the statement’s impact. Ultimately, the updated resolution passed as one document.

“We’ve dropped all mentions of the Oct. 7 statement by the University and are no longer demanding that they rescind that statement,” Olbon said. “In place of that resolve, we’ve removed the ‘whereas for it’ and the ‘resolved for it.’ We’ve replaced that with a Hydra of several other resolves that accomplish similar things. So just as we had talked about before, the resolution was kind of targeting the University and we decided that it would be more productive for all of us if we targeted the organizations that we were worried about in the first place, and not the University.”

The updated resolution also condemns the Trump administration’s use of Canary Mission, a surveillance group, to dox students and revoke protestors’ visas. According to its website, Canary Mission “documents people and groups that promote hatred of the USA, Israel and Jews.”

During the Nov. 18 SA meeting, Jeremy Marcus, an off-campus representative and a junior double-majoring in political science and economics, showed the surveillance platform’s website and the names of several University students on it. Marcus believed the governing body needed to take a “hard stance” against doxxing.

The resolution mentions the University’s recent partnership with Genetec Security Center, a Montreal-based surveillance solutions company, to monitor “unplanned” gatherings. An Aug. 21 University B-Line statement warned students against disruptive protests, stating that “Binghamton will not permit protest and expression that disrupts the University’s academic mission.”

It also reaffirmed the right of students to use facial coverings to conceal their identities while protesting for privacy reasons. Last October, the SA Congress passed a resolution expressing support for prohibiting face coverings during protests, which was subsequently vetoed by the SA Executive Board.

The resolution asserted that the First Amendment is “currently under attack” by the Trump administration and that “students fear kidnapping from ICE thugs.”

The political language drew criticism from some Congress representatives who claimed the statements in the resolution were not representative of the entire student body.

“It is ridiculous to pretend that there’s not a large chunk of students who support President Trump and his policies,” said Leila Tilem, an off-campus representative and junior majoring in philosophy, politics and law. “If I have to be the voice who states that, then I will. Diversity of thought is one of the things that makes this country — and hopefully all universities — great. To pretend that there are not people who disagree with you and who disagree with the statements that you’re making is ridiculous and does not represent the greater Binghamton University and the population.”

Citing statistics from the 2024 November election, Luke Fehily, a Hinman College representative and freshman majoring in political science, rebutted by saying over 80 percent of the University’s campus body voted for Kamala Harris. According to precinct-level data for students with a campus address, then-Vice President Kamala Harris garnered 1,673 votes while now-President Donald Trump won 469.

The resolution urged the University to adopt its own version of the Chicago Principles, a 2014 statement from the University of Chicago that reaffirmed its commitment to student speech and expression. The principles have been adopted by other higher education institutions and were implemented to protect the discussion of “unwelcome, disagreeable, or even deeply offensive” ideas.

“I really appreciate all of you, but our work doesn’t stop with passing a resolution,” Olbon said. “It continues with engaging with the University administration, engaging with the constituents to make sure that we can get a positive statement from the University, pass some version of the Chicago Principles and make these ‘resolves’ actually real.”

Editor’s Note: Jeremy Marcus, an off-campus SA Congress representative, is a former News writer for Pipe Dream. He had no part in the writing or editing of this article. 

Jayden Cedano, an SA Congress representative for Mountainview College who coauthored the resolution, is a News writer for Pipe Dream. He had no part in the writing or editing of this article. 

Editor’s Note (11/21): This article was updated to include a statement from Yoav Muscal, a Newing College SA Congress representative.