A judge for the Hampshire County Superior Court issued a preliminary injunction on Feb. 13, temporarily barring the University of Massachusetts Amherst from taking further action against a student suspended for one year for organizing an anti-Israel protest on campus.
The National Lawyers Guild’s Massachusetts chapter and Zalkind Duncan & Bernstein LLP filed suit on Jan. 27 on behalf of Kivlighan de Montebello, a member of the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. The complaint alleges the public university violated his First Amendment rights after he helped organize a protest against Raytheon’s participation in a campus career fair on Sept. 29.
In his ruling, Judge Jeffrey Trapani wrote that de Montebello “used a bullhorn to engage in a call-and-response with other protesters” and was instructed to stop using the device and remain in a designated area near the fair’s registration space. Protesters continued chanting, and university staff closed the auditorium doors while the event proceeded.
After an administrator issued a warning, the chanting briefly stopped but resumed, and protesters were ordered to disperse, according to the ruling.
The university suspended de Montebello from Dec. 22, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026, after determining that he did not immediately comply with orders to stop chanting and engaged in disruptive behavior, per the suit.
The judge found that de Montebello is “likely” to succeed on the merits of his claim, noting that the career fair continued and that the protest did not appear to cause a “substantial disruption.” He added that de Montebello has also “demonstrated that he will suffer irreparable harm” if an injunction is not issued.
Urszula Masny-Latos, executive director of the National Lawyers Guild’s Massachusetts chapter, said the decision affirms that “UMass cannot suspend a student for exercising his constitutional right to peaceful protest.”
“Universities that silence dissent should take notice,” she added.
The ruling states that, until the case is finished or the court issues another order, the university may not expel de Montebello, prevent him from attending classes or completing his academic requirements or impose any additional disciplinary penalties related to the incident.
Emily Gest, associate vice chancellor for news and media relations at UMass Amherst, told JNS that “while the university, as always, respects the outcome of the judicial process, it will not comment on active litigation.”
