Alyeza Lewin of the Louis B. Brandeis Foundation complained that the applicants for the SSI chapter were subjected to an arduous application process to which no other organizations on campus were subjected.
"Right after the student government had actually approved of the organization, five days later the [student government] president – in a process that had never, ever been used this way before – used her veto to veto the recognition of the organization," Lewin explains.
"They were asked to appear, in-person, at their application hearing to answer questions, when other groups are approved without any in-person appearance," Lewin adds in a press release. " And then, and most egregiously, they were singled out and their recognition was revoked, all because they support Israel."
The Brandeis president says Duke's president tried to placate the situation by stating "options" had been identified to give SSI some kind of recognition. But Lewin says her organization informed the university leader that "options" were not sufficient.
"… We explained … that what these students needed and the law required was that these students be given the equal access and the equal opportunities that they're entitled to," she tells AFN.
Leading up to the group's reinstatement, Lewin had warned the university it faced litigation if the student club wasn't reinstated.
