The University System of Maryland — which oversees the state’s public colleges, like the University of Maryland, Towson University and Coppin State University — will not allow special events on Oct. 7 unless they “support a university-sponsored Day of Dialogue.”

Other events, like those put on by university-approved student organizations, will be allowed to resume on Oct. 8, the USM said in a statement.

Oct. 7 is the one-year anniversary of a Hamas-led attack on Israel that marked the start of the Israel-Hamas war, now in its 11th month. Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostage in the initial attack, according to the Associated Press. Israel responded with airstrikes and an offensive in the Gaza strip that have left some 40,000 Palestinians dead, according to the Gaza-based Ministry of Health.

The university system called the anniversary “a day of enormous suffering and grief for many in our campus communities.” The campuses within the system are working to protect students’ safety and rights of free expression, according to the USM statement.

That also includes a student’s right to access an education “free from harassment, threats, and violence.”

“It’s a difficult balance, but a vitally important one,” the USM wrote.

A student group called University of Maryland Students for Justice in Palestine said on social media it had joined with another group, Jewish Voice for Peace, to hold a vigil on Oct. 7 for the Palestinians killed since the war began.

UMD Students for Justice in Palestine said on Monday the university canceled a “reservation” the group had to hold a vigil at McKeldin Mall at the University of Maryland, College Park.

A social media post from the Jewish Student Union at the University of Maryland said the group was “reassured” by the school’s decision to cancel the event. A UMD official confirmed the school received thousands of messages about the planned event across different channels.

Darryll J. Pines, the president of the University of Maryland, said he asked the school’s police department for a “routine and targeted safety assessment” for Oct. 7, but that there are no “immediate or active” threats to the community.

The University of Maryland did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Colleges across the country — including in Baltimore — saw intense student activism following the attack and subsequent Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. An encampment at The Johns Hopkins University ultimately ended after pro-Palestinian protesters struck a deal with the administration.

The university’s commencement ceremonies were briefly interrupted by pro-Palestinian demonstrators.