Facing global isolation, Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu addresses U.N. General Assembly (PBS NewsHour)

Applauding a Brave Stand for Academic Freedom at the Harvard Crimson

In a moment when academic institutions often yield to external pressure, The Harvard Crimson recently delivered a vital reminder of what true scholarly integrity looks like. Its coverage of the open letter signed by more than 360 academics worldwide—demanding accountability from the Harvard Education Publishing Group (HEPG) for its abrupt cancellation of a special issue on Palestine and education—deserves high praise.

A Stand Against Scholasticide

The canceled issue, initially slated for release following a full editorial process, was pulled two months prior to publication under the pretext of “copy-editing issues” and editorial misalignment. Yet scholars and editors viewed this as censorship—what some have called “scholasticide”—undermining both academic freedom and HEPG’s mission. The Harvard Educational Review (HER) student editorial board publicly denounced the move, describing it as inconsistent with the journal’s nearly century-long legacy.

Global Solidarity and Moral Clarity

The open letter drew signatures from professors across more than 55 institutions worldwide—an extraordinary act of scholarly solidarity. Signatories demanded HEPG acknowledge its decision as discriminatory, reverse the cancellation, and safeguard editorial independence from political interference. In doing so, they upheld academic freedom not simply as institutional rhetoric, but as a moral imperative.

Why The Harvard Crimson Coverage Matters

The Crimson’s reporting illuminated an issue too often buried in bureaucratic opacity. It traced the timeline of a late-stage “legal risk assessment” that derailed the issue and documented the dismay of editors and authors. More importantly, it framed the cancellation as a threat not only to scholarship on Palestine, but to academic freedom more broadly.

By bringing this story to light, The Crimson demonstrated what real student journalism can achieve: holding power to account, amplifying marginalized voices, and ensuring that critical debates remain visible.

In Defense of Ideas, Especially Contested Ones

In polarized times, academic freedom can feel precarious—especially when certain topics trigger political sensitivities. The cancellation of a Palestine-focused issue raises alarms that should not be ignored. What The Crimson provided was more than reporting; it was a rallying moment, a reminder that student journalists and scholars worldwide can resist institutional silence.

Academic Freedom Must Be Defended

The Harvard Crimson’s coverage is a model for higher education journalism—courageous, unflinching, and morally clear. By spotlighting both the injustice of the cancellation and the global academic response, The Crimson affirmed that when institutions retreat, journalism can still advance the cause of truth.

May this moment remind us: academic freedom is never guaranteed. It must be defended—and applauded—when it is under threat.

---

Sources

• The Harvard Crimson, “Over 360 Academics Sign Letter Condemning Harvard Education Publishing Group’s Cancellation of Palestine Issue” (Aug. 15, 2025)

• The Harvard Crimson, “Harvard Educational Review Cancels Special Issue on Palestine” (July 24, 2025)

• Wikipedia, Harvard Educational Review entry

• Open letter from international scholars to HEPG (2025)

• American Association of University Professors (AAUP), 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure

• Joan Wallach Scott, Knowledge, Power, and Academic Freedom (2019)

• Matthew Hedges, Repression and Academic Freedom in the Middle East (2021)

• Steven Salaita, Uncivil Rites: Palestine and the Limits of Academic Freedom (2015)

Col. Larry Wilkerson: Defeated Once, Israel Faces a Collapse It May Not Survive (Dialogue Works)

Dedicated to dialogue and peace, "Dialogue Works" is hosted by Nima Rostami Alkhorshid.

At Dialogue works, we believe there’s nothing more unstoppable than when people come together. This group’s mission is to create a global community of diverse individuals who will support, challenge, and inspire one another by providing a platform for Dialogue. We encourage you to share your knowledge, ask questions, participate in discussions, and become an integral part of this little community. Together we can become a better community and provide our members with a much better experience.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation: A Media Tour Built on Contradictions

In mid-2025, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began a coordinated media tour across the United States. The campaign has included visits to evangelical churches, conservative news outlets, and donor events. Johnnie Moore Jr., long associated with Liberty University and serving as executive chair of GHF, has been a primary spokesperson for the initiative.

The stated goal of the media campaign is to raise support for humanitarian relief operations in Gaza. However, the distribution of aid by GHF has been accompanied by significant violence. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported on July 22 that at least 766 people have been killed in the vicinity of GHF distribution sites. The Gaza Health Ministry stated on July 1 that approximately 70% of all aid-related deaths have occurred at or near these sites.

The OHCHR, along with Gaza officials and eyewitnesses, has attributed many of these deaths to Israeli military forces. Additionally, U.S. contractors working with GHF have been documented shooting Palestinian civilians at distribution points. Former GHF personnel have described a workplace environment with minimal oversight and a culture that devalues the people receiving aid.

On July 16, a crowd crush at a GHF site resulted in additional fatalities. Gaza authorities and witnesses have assigned responsibility to both GHF staff and the Israeli military, while GHF has claimed that the incident was caused by Hamas.

Doctors Without Borders has described the situation around GHF aid sites as “slaughter masquerading as aid.” The Center for Constitutional Rights, along with 14 other human rights organizations, issued a joint statement warning that GHF could be implicated in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide under international law.

Despite the severity of these incidents, GHF and the Israeli Defense Forces have consistently denied that their actions have caused civilian deaths. Both organizations assert that only warning shots were used. GHF has acknowledged one deadly incident—referring to the July 16 crowd crush—but disputes the account provided by Gaza officials.

GHF was established in early 2025 with backing from U.S. political donors and coordination with the Israeli military. Independent oversight of the organization's activities in Gaza has been limited.

The Higher Education Inquirer began investigating GHF and its leadership in the context of broader inquiries into the political influence of Christian universities. For years, HEI has investigated the intersection of higher education, foreign policy, and private contractors. We continue this work because few others are doing so.

Sources:

• UN OHCHR Situation Reports, July 2025

• Gaza Health Ministry Statements, July 2025

• Doctors Without Borders Press Release, July 2025

• Center for Constitutional Rights, Joint Statement, July 2025

• Witness statements documented by international and local media

• Gaza Humanitarian Foundation press briefings

• Higher Education Inquirer archives, 2016–2025

Linda McMahon’s Holocaust-Denial Response Sets Off Alarm Bells

In a tense moment during a recent House Education and Workforce Committee hearing, Education Secretary Linda McMahon faced sharp criticism for comments that some argue could lend legitimacy to Holocaust denial. When asked by Rep. Mark Takano whether refusing to hire a Holocaust denier at a university like Harvard would constitute an impermissible ideological litmus test, McMahon deflected by stating that “there should be diversity of viewpoints relative to teachings and opinions on campuses.”

McMahon’s answer was met with disbelief from lawmakers, educators, and journalists, who see her framing as a troubling signal of how far the rhetoric of “viewpoint diversity” can be stretched. Critics argue that her remarks echo the language used by far-right groups to justify pseudohistory, hate speech, and conspiracy theories under the guise of academic freedom.

The exchange quickly drew national attention. On CNN, host Abby Phillip challenged panelists over whether McMahon’s statement meant that institutions must accept Holocaust denial as a legitimate perspective. The conversation became heated, exposing deep divisions over how educational institutions should manage historically discredited views, especially in an era of increasing political polarization.

This controversy isn’t occurring in a vacuum. The Trump administration has taken an aggressive stance against perceived ideological bias in higher education, using terms like “viewpoint diversity” to criticize hiring practices, curriculum content, and campus speech policies. The result has been a chilling effect on institutions that wish to enforce rigorous academic standards while navigating political pressure from federal and state governments.

For institutions like Harvard—and for the broader higher education community—the implications of McMahon’s statement are stark. Academic freedom is not a license for falsehood. Holocaust denial is not a matter of interpretation or opinion; it is a deliberate distortion of documented genocide. By refusing to categorically reject it, McMahon undermines the integrity of scholarly inquiry and opens the door to broader normalization of anti-intellectualism.

Higher education institutions face a dilemma: how to defend academic freedom while protecting the truth. Universities must clarify that “diversity of viewpoints” cannot extend to historically debunked and morally abhorrent falsehoods. Faculty and administrators need clear guidelines that distinguish between open inquiry and misinformation masquerading as intellectual dissent. Curricula must reflect historical consensus, not propaganda.

McMahon’s response reflects a larger political movement that seeks to erode trust in institutions and blur the line between truth and ideology. The Higher Education Inquirer has long warned about the rise of pseudoscience and revisionist history within the credential economy. What happened in the hearing room last week is a symptom of that broader rot. If the idea of "viewpoint diversity" is weaponized to protect Holocaust denial, then the American educational system is not merely in decline—it is being actively dismantled.

For those committed to education grounded in truth, McMahon's comments should not be dismissed as a gaffe. They should be seen as a warning.

Sources
The Hill: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/opinion-linda-mcmahon-s-answer-on-holocaust-denialism-should-scare-us/ar-AA1J16hH
The Daily Beast: https://www.thedailybeast.com/abby-phillip-clashes-with-cnn-co-star-over-trump-education-secretary-linda-mcmahon
CNN coverage archived on July 18, 2025

The Missing 377,000: Gaza’s Grim Arithmetic, the Mirage of Humanitarian Aid—and the Crackdown on Campus Dissent

Original reporting sourced from 21st Century Wire, with data from Dr. Yaakov Garb’s 2025 report published on the Harvard Dataverse

A groundbreaking new report authored by Dr. Yaakov Garb, Professor at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and hosted on the Harvard Dataverse, reveals a brutal arithmetic behind Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. According to Garb’s spatial and demographic analysis, the number of Palestinians likely killed or missing in the Gaza Strip now exceeds 300,000. That figure—derived from Israel’s own internal data—calls into question the official death tolls promoted in mainstream media and reveals a staggering discrepancy: 377,000 people are unaccounted for.

These numbers expose more than just a humanitarian crisis. They reveal a calculated architecture of control, cloaked in the language of aid but functioning as an extension of military occupation. Yet as these truths emerge through academic and investigative channels, another battle is being waged—on college campuses across the U.S. and Europe—where students who dare to speak out are increasingly being targeted for suppression.

Gaza’s Disappeared

The report shows that prior to the 2023-25 siege, Gaza’s population was approximately 2.227 million. Israeli Defense Forces estimate that the three main populated enclaves now contain only 1.85 million people:

• Gaza City: 1 million

• Mawasi: 0.5 million

• Central Gaza: 0.35 million

That leaves 377,000 Gazans whose whereabouts are unknown. While some may be displaced or trapped in inaccessible areas, the report strongly implies that the missing are dead—many likely buried under rubble, dismembered beyond recognition, or perished from starvation and disease in isolation.

This number dwarfs commonly cited death tolls and challenges the sanitized statistics reported in international media. It is not the product of speculation, but of direct analysis of Israeli military data. What Garb calls a “demographic horror story” is also a legal and moral reckoning.

Humanitarian Aid as Military Strategy

The second key finding of the report is that Israel’s so-called humanitarian aid compounds—constructed with U.S. support and operated in part by private American security firms—function not as relief centers, but as militarized zones that restrict access, surveil civilians, and enable violence.

These compounds are located in Israeli-declared “buffer zones” where civilians risk death for attempting entry. Their design funnels desperate Palestinians through chokepoints devoid of shade, water, or toilets—what the report identifies as a “fatal funnel” meant to control crowds, not serve them.

These installations stand in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which requires occupying powers to ensure food and medical supplies reach the civilian population, or allow independent humanitarian groups to do so. Instead, Israel has obstructed neutral aid groups and replaced them with a system that uses the language of humanitarianism to justify a regime of control and dispossession.

Repression at Home: Silencing Student Dissent

While Garb’s report meticulously documents atrocities abroad, a parallel strategy of repression has emerged within the borders of liberal democracies: the systematic persecution of student protestors who speak out against Israeli actions in Gaza.

On university campuses across the United States, Europe, and beyond, students demanding an end to the siege and accountability for war crimes are being surveilled, suspended, expelled, doxxed, and in some cases arrested. Faculty members who support these students have also faced retaliation, including denial of tenure, contract non-renewal, and public vilification.

Major donors and political actors have increasingly intervened in university affairs, pressuring administrations to equate protest with antisemitism, despite the fact that many of these student groups include Jewish activists and operate under clear human rights frameworks. What is being punished is not hate speech—but dissent.

University leaders, once guardians of free inquiry, now act as enforcers of ideological conformity, chilling debate and flattening moral nuance in the name of institutional stability. The persecution of protestors is not just a betrayal of academic freedom—it is a continuation of the same campaign of silence that allows mass death abroad to proceed without scrutiny.

The Disappeared, Here and There

In Gaza, the disappeared number in the hundreds of thousands. In the West, those who try to name this horror are disappeared in different ways: stripped of platforms, denied scholarships, pushed out of academic spaces. These twin silences—one enforced through military might, the other through institutional discipline—serve the same purpose: to protect power from accountability.

Dr. Garb’s report concludes with a searing indictment: “If an attacker (occupier) cannot adequately and neutrally feed a starving population in the wake of a disaster it is ongoingly creating, it is obligated to allow other humanitarian agencies to do so.” This obligation has not been met. Instead, it has been replaced by the architecture of impunity—built from rubble in Gaza, and maintained through repression in the halls of higher education.

If we fail to confront this architecture—if we allow it to be draped in the language of aid and the robes of civility—then we are complicit in its violence.

---

Primary Source:
Garb, Yaakov. 2025. The Israeli/American/GHF ‘aid distribution’ compounds in Gaza: Dataset and initial analysis of location, context, and internal structure. Harvard Dataverse. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/QB75LB

With acknowledgments to 21st Century Wire and the journalists and students who refuse to be silent.

American Universities Complicit in Genocide, Again

As universities across the United States respond with increasing repression to student-led protests against the genocide in Palestine, historical parallels emerge that challenge the very principles of academic freedom and moral responsibility. The aggressive crackdowns—ranging from mass arrests to administrative threats—echo disturbing precedents from The Third Reich in the Ivory Tower by historian Stephen H. Norwood. The book exposes how many American universities, particularly in the 1930s, were complicit in Nazi ideology through appeasement, censorship, and the suppression of anti-fascist voices. The current treatment of pro-Palestinian student activists suggests that history is, once again, repeating itself.

The Suppression of Moral Dissent in Higher Education

Norwood’s research demonstrates how elite U.S. universities—including Harvard, Columbia, and Yale—maintained diplomatic and academic relationships with Nazi Germany, even as the regime persecuted Jews, socialists, and other marginalized groups. Student activists who sought to protest these ties were ignored, censored, or dismissed as “radicals.” The pattern is eerily similar today: pro-Palestinian students, many of whom are calling attention to potential war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank, are met with suspensions, arrests, and a media narrative that frames them as dangerous or disruptive.

This is not simply an issue of campus policy. It is an indication of how institutions of higher learning align themselves with power—whether it be the Nazi government in the 1930s or the Netanyahu government today—at the expense of justice and free expression.

The Influence of Financial and Political Interests

One of Norwood’s most damning revelations was how American universities welcomed Nazi officials on campus, accepted funding from German sources, and ignored early reports of persecution. Today, many of these same institutions maintain deep financial ties to Israel, including research partnerships, donor influence, and endowment investments in companies linked to the Israeli military-industrial complex.

This financial entanglement shapes institutional responses to protest. Instead of engaging with the moral and legal arguments posed by students—who cite documented reports from the UN, Human Rights Watch, and other credible organizations—university administrators call in police forces, disband student groups, and issue vague statements about maintaining "campus order." Just as in the 1930s, universities prioritize political and economic alliances over ethical accountability.

The Criminalization of Campus Activism

Norwood’s book describes how students protesting Nazi ties were accused of being “unruly” or “disruptive,” justifying administrative crackdowns. Today, students calling for an end to U.S. complicity in Israel’s actions face similar character assassinations, often being labeled as “terrorist sympathizers” or threats to campus safety.

Recent crackdowns have seen:

• Mass arrests of peaceful demonstrators, including those engaging in sit-ins and teach-ins.

• Surveillance and doxxing of students and faculty who express pro-Palestinian views.

• Increased administrative pressure, including suspensions, expulsions, and threats to scholarships or visas for international students.

The use of state power—often in coordination with local police, federal agencies, and even private security firms—mirrors historical instances where universities acted as enforcers of political orthodoxy rather than defenders of intellectual freedom.

What This Means for US Higher Education

If universities continue down this path, they risk further eroding their credibility as spaces for critical inquiry and moral debate. Just as history judges those who remained silent—or complicit—during the rise of fascism, future generations will scrutinize how today’s institutions responded to calls for justice in Palestine.

The lesson from The Third Reich in the Ivory Tower is clear: universities have a choice. They can either stand on the side of truth and academic freedom or become enforcers of state violence and repression. The students protesting today, much like those who opposed fascism in the 1930s, are asking their institutions to make that choice. The question is whether universities will listen—or if history will once again record their failure.

"We Are Killing the Essence of What the University Is": Dr. Joanne Liu on NYU Canceling Her Talk (Democracy Now!)

 

The former international head of Doctors Without Borders is speaking out after New York University canceled her presentation, saying some of her slides could be viewed as "anti-governmental" and "antisemitic" because they mentioned the Trump administration's cuts to foreign aid and deaths of humanitarian workers in Israel's war on Gaza. Dr. Joanne Liu, a Canadian pediatric emergency medicine physician, was scheduled to speak at NYU, her alma mater, on March 19 and had been invited almost a year ago to discuss the challenges of humanitarian crises. Censoring speech is "killing the essence of what the university is about," says Liu. "I truly and strongly believe that universities are the temple of knowledge."

Yale Law School Firing Sparks Debate Over Free Speech and the State of American Academia

In a statement shared on social media on March 28th, Helyeh Doutaghi, the Deputy Director of the Law and Political Economy Project at Yale Law School (YLS), revealed that her employment was terminated by the prestigious institution. The firing came just days before Muslims across the world marked the second Eid under the shadow of an ongoing genocide against Palestinian families. Doutaghi’s termination followed her outspoken criticism of Zionist policies in Palestine, igniting a wider conversation about free speech, academic freedom, and institutional silencing in American universities.

According to Doutaghi, the circumstances surrounding her firing raise critical questions about the role of elite educational institutions in suppressing dissent. She criticized universities like Yale, Cornell, Columbia, and Harvard for what she described as the normalization of "fascistic governance." In her statement, Doutaghi argued that these institutions were increasingly functioning as "sites of surveillance and oppression," actively collaborating with state apparatuses to criminalize resistance movements.

Doutaghi's termination was preceded by her being placed on administrative leave in February, following allegations of ties to Samidoun, the Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, which the U.S. government has labeled a terrorist-linked organization. Doutaghi has denied any unlawful affiliation with the group, asserting that she was never given an opportunity for a fair hearing before her abrupt dismissal. In her view, Yale’s actions exemplify a broader trend of academic institutions suppressing pro-Palestinian voices, especially as the geopolitical tensions surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict escalate.

In a chilling warning about the broader implications of her firing, Doutaghi emphasized the troubling precedent her case could set for academic freedom. "This sets a chilling precedent," she wrote. "If any Al bot – or anyone at all – accuses a Yale faculty or student of wrongdoing, that alone can now suffice to end their career." Doutaghi's comments draw attention to concerns about due process in academic settings, especially when external pressures—such as politically motivated surveillance or AI-generated campaigns—are used to target and silence critical voices.

The investigation into Doutaghi's alleged ties to Samidoun came to light after an article in Jewish Onliner, an Israeli publication. However, doubts have been raised about the credibility of the publication. Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Jewish Onliner might be an AI-generated bot with potential links to the Israeli government and military, further casting uncertainty on the investigation’s motives. Doutaghi’s attorney, Eric Lee, pointed out that the basis for the investigation was flimsy, with the sole evidence being an online article, raising serious questions about the fairness and transparency of Yale’s decision-making process.

Doutaghi has also linked her termination to broader shifts in U.S. policy, particularly under the Trump administration, which she claims has escalated attacks on noncitizen students and faculty supporting Palestinian human rights. For Doutaghi, her firing is symptomatic of a deeper crisis in American institutions, one that reflects the decline of what she calls "Western liberal democracy." She contends that these systems, despite their outward commitment to democracy and human rights, are built to serve the interests of the propertied classes, often at the expense of marginalized communities.

The implications of Doutaghi’s termination extend beyond her personal case, signaling a potentially dangerous precedent for academic freedom in the U.S. As universities increasingly become sites of ideological conformity, there is growing concern that dissenting voices—particularly those in solidarity with Palestine—are being systematically silenced. The firing raises questions about the extent to which academic institutions are willing to protect free speech in the face of external political and social pressures.

In the wake of Doutaghi’s dismissal, students, faculty members, and advocacy groups have rallied in support of her, condemning Yale’s actions as an affront to academic freedom. Protests have erupted at various campuses, demanding accountability from university administrators and calling for the protection of Palestinian human rights.

As the case continues to unfold, the larger debate about the role of universities in upholding democratic values, academic freedom, and social justice remains at the forefront. Doutaghi’s statement serves as a reminder of the precarious nature of dissent in today’s political climate, where even academic institutions that once stood as bastions of free thought and expression are increasingly vulnerable to the pressures of political influence and ideological control.

The question now facing the broader academic community is how to respond to the growing trend of censorship and silencing on campuses. Will institutions like Yale take a stand in defense of free speech, or will they continue to bow to external political and social pressures? The answers to these questions will have far-reaching consequences for the future of academic freedom in the United States.

Reinventing Solidarity (New Labor Forum)

It's been a new day in the United Auto Workers since the election of Shawn Fain as president in 2023, with the union carrying out an aggressive organizing and political program that has established the UAW as a major presence in American life. New Labor Forum's Micah Uetricht spoke to Jonah Furman, a top aide to Fain, about the union's strategy, its various wins and losses among nonunion auto manufacturers in the American South, its relationship to the Democratic Party under President Joe Biden, and the impact of a Donald Trump presidency on the union and labor as a whole.

Reinventing Solidarity is a podcast produced by New Labor Forum (NLF), a national labor journal of the Murphy Institute at CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies. The podcast features scholars, activists, and artists on the front lines of movements for social and economic justice, and asks essential questions about race, class, gender, and the role of organized labor and social justice organizations in creating a radically different world—one with solidarity, equality, and sustainability at its heart. Reinventing Solidary is hosted by NLF Editor-at-Large Micah Uetricht with co-hosts Kafui Attoh, Ruth Milkman, Samir Sonti, and Sean Sweeney.  

One Year of Genocide in Gaza: Dispatches from Palestine & Lebanon (AMED San Francisco State Umiversity)

 

Housed in the historic College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University alongside the studies of Indigenous communities and other communities of color, the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Initiative (AMED) is framed within a justice centered perspective that is grounded in the need for accountability and service to multiple publics, including those within and outside of the academic community. AMED provides an intellectual home to scholarship and analysis on pertinent issues affecting Arab and Muslim communities. Through engagement with the larger community, with activists and scholars engaged in critical and decolonizing work in the field, through its efforts toward documentation, analysis, and skilled pedagogy.

Elite Universities on Lockdown. Protestors Regroup.

[Updated 9-29-24]

Elite universities have changed their policies to significantly reduce free speech and free assembly. In response, college students and their faculty allies are having to regroup and rethink how they protest the US-Israel war against Palestine as it expands in the Middle East. On the establishment side, will universities further crack down on students and faculty, wherever peaceful protests might occur?  

Campus "Crime and Punishment"

Elite universities like UCLA have dramatically reduced the areas that students can speak and assemble freely, restricting protesters to free speech zones, a common tactic used by the US government during the War on Terror. Universities have also upped surveillance measures and punished students involved in protests, with limited due process. 

The visible resistance may now be limited on campuses where students have been detained, assaulted, arrested, expelled, and banned from campus. Foreign students wary of facing deportation may also be keeping quiet, publicly.     

In California, Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a bill to update public university codes of conduct "and train students on how to protest with civility, a response to pro-Palestinian demonstrations that erupted across the state last spring." The bill was opposed by pro-Palestinian Groups and the ACLU.

Protests Off Campus

There have been a number of protests against the US-backed war that has expanded from Gaza, to the Occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, and Iran. Demonstrations have been held in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, DC and other college towns, including Iowa City, home of the University of Iowa.  Those protests will be closely observed and documented by law enforcement. 

With the help of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the fossil fuel lobby, states have already crafted anti-protest legislation to reduce public free speech and free assembly.  According to the UK Guardian, 45 states have considered new anti-protest legislation since 2017.  

Protests on Campus

Over the last week, there were small protests at Penn State University and the University of Arizona.  The Penn State demonstration, which had about 60 attendees, was supported by Penn State Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), the Student Committee for Defense and Solidarity (SCDS), the Muslim Students’ Association (MSA), the United Socialists at Penn State (USPSU) and the People's Defense Front - Northern Appalachia. The impromptu Arizona protest was set up by the Party for Socialism and Liberation. At Cornell University, about 100 students protested a career fair that included defense contractors Boeing and L3 Harris. It's not surprising that these demonstrations would be small, given recent crackdowns across the country. 

Collaboration Between Elite Schools and Law Enforcement

Will elite schools work with law enforcement at the local, state, federal, and international level to further restrict free speech and freedom of assembly?  And university administrators try to quell dissent, will students be more harshly disciplined for planning and engaging in peaceful protests, of any type, on and off campus? 

Related links:

 
What caused 70 US universities to arrest protesting students while many more did not?  

Campus Protests, Campus Safety, and the Student Imagination 

Democratic Protests on Campus: Modeling the Better World We Seek (Annelise Orleck)

Methods of Student Nonviolent Resistance

Wikipedia Community Documents Pro-Palestinian Protests on University and College Campuses

One Fascism or Two?: The Reemergence of "Fascism(s)" in US Higher Education

A People's History of Higher Education in the US

Petition: UVA and Charlottesville community demand UVA administration drop UJC charges against student protesters arrested on May 4th

Contact: 

Laura Goldblatt (lgoldblatt@gmail.com)

609-915-6132

Walt Heinecke (Waltheinecke@hotmail.com)
(434) 825-1896

September 8, 2024

Charlottesville, VA 

UVA students have launched a petition that has garnered over 500 signatures and counting demanding that the UVA administration drop University Judiciary Committee (UJC) charges against the five remaining protesters still facing such charges following local and state police’s violent break up of the UVA and community pro-Palestinian encampment on May 4th, 2024. 

The petition notes that in addition to retraumatizing students attacked by police in riot gear, some wielding semi- and automatic weapons, the charges are unjust and arbitrary. Given that local authorities, including the Albemarle County Prosecutor Jim Hingeley, has determined that there is not enough evidence to proceed with criminal charges and all no trespass orders have been dropped, the administration seeks to use the UJC charges to further antagonize students who have otherwise been fully exonerated through due process. 

The students protesting at the encampment and on May 4th sought to realize UVA’s mission of being both “good and great” by demanding this ethos apply to the University’s operations and that they divest from Israeli companies and those profiting from the genocide in Gaza. In making an example of these students, administrators aim to deny UVA faculty, staff, students, and Charlottesville community members of their first amendment rights and protections and instill a culture of fear around free speech and the right to protests at UVA.

The UJC charges also cause material harm to those students who cannot obtain diplomas and secure employment, effectively locking them out of the job market despite their successful completion of their degrees. Current students facing charges remain in limbo. As they start the academic year, they are unsure of what will happen in their cases and whether they will be able to finish the semester with their peers.

A local civil rights attorney representing one of the students facing UJC charges recently stated “It’s over the top. ‘Let’s prosecute them. Let’s put them in judicial proceedings. Let’s take away their right to get a diploma.’ What else do you want to do to them?”...All for a small, entirely peaceful demonstration for which the university can give no adequate, truthful answer to why it happened, how it happened and who, in fact, ordered it happening.” (Daily Progress, August 25, 2024)

In a recent Statement the American Association of University Professors (“AAUP Condenms Wave of Administrative Policies Intended to Crackdown on Peaceful Campus Protests”) stated: “College and university students are both citizens and members of the academic community. As Citizens, students should enjoy the same freedom of speech, peaceful assembly, and right of petition that other citizens enjoy and, as members of the academic community, they are subject to the obligations that accrue to them by virtue of this membership. Faculty members and administration officials should ensure that institutional powers are not employed to inhibit such intellectual and personal development of students as is often promoted by their exercise of the rights of citizenship both on and off campus....Administrators who claim that “expressive activity” policies protect academic freedom and student learning, even as they severely restrict its exercise, risk destroying the very freedoms of speech and expression they claim to protect.”

In dropping the UJC charges, UVA administrators could join with peer institutions like the University of Chicago, which have dropped all charges against student protesters. Such actions would serve as the first step towards transparency and healing, actions that they refused to take over the summer in the immediate wake of their egregious decisions on May 4.

Campus Protests, Campus Safety, and the Student Imagination

According to the LA Times, students at Cal Berkeley, San Jose State, San Francisco State, and the University of San Francisco plan to hold coordinated protests on their campuses tomorrow. These actions are a continuation of this year's earlier protests against Israel's atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza--which have been backed by the United States, through arms deals and federal funding.

With the US-backed genocide expanding to the West Bank and Southern Lebanon, there will certainly be student resistance despite administrative and police efforts to make campus occupations and other forms of protest (even free speech and freedom of assembly) difficult.

The greatest threat so far from these protests has been to the reputations of elite universities and their endowments, rather than to campus safety. And the greatest perceived threat to administrators is that students and their allies have the imagination to resist in novel ways--without violence.   

Students have already gained partial victories with a handful of universities which have offered to review investment strategies complicit with genocide. These progressive schools include Brown University and San Francisco State. At the University of Michigan, pro-Palestinian students organized as the Shut it Down Party have won student elections.       

Coordinated and Secret Crackdowns

The crackdown measures that schools have already made to reduce free speech and other freedoms, and to stoke fear, are too numerous to list. Some of these measures, like increased surveillance are not even known by students, faculty, staff, and community folks. Just understanding that secret mass surveillance is possible helps administrators who want to quell good trouble. 

What are the real threats to campus safety? 

We hope these protests (and any other actions) will be nonviolent and have published a list of nonviolent methods for resistance as a starting point for discussion. Violence is not a good excuse even in crackdowns of this type, and it's a losing strategy for all sides--other than the right wing--who want chaos and hope to bait others. It takes great planning, discipline, and strategy not to take the bait. At the same time, we hope campus administrators will take the problems of sexual assault, hate crimes and other forms of violence, as well as the threats of mass shootings, more seriously than they have.

Related links: 

Democratic Protests on Campus: Modeling the Better World We Seek (Annelise Orleck)

Methods of Student Nonviolent Resistance

Wikipedia Community Documents Pro-Palestinian Protests on University and College Campuses

Dangerous Spaces: Sexual Assault and Other Forms of Violence On and Off Campus

One Fascism or Two?: The Reemergence of "Fascism(s)" in US Higher Education

A People's History of Higher Education in the US?

Letter to an incoming freshman

Debtors’ Protest in DC May 22 calling President Biden to "Fund Education, Not Genocide" (Debt Collective)

 

Now, more than ever, we need to stand up for a reparative, debt-free education that liberates our collective possibilities – not pushes us further into a violent war machine. That’s why on May 22, we are going to Washington D.C. to call on the President to use his executive powers to fund education and liberate student debtors, not to accelerate war. We need the President to FUND EDUCATION, NOT GENOCIDE.

If you are planning to come to D.C., please sign up on the THIS LINK so we can keep you looped into the plans.

WHAT: A Debtors’ Assembly and March to Capitol Grounds to call on Pres. Biden to FUND EDUCATION, NOT GENOCIDE.

WHEN: Wednesday May 22, 2024 at 12pm EST. We will have lunch and brief in-person training.

WHERE: We will meet outside the Department of Education at the Eisenhower Memorial (540 Independence Ave SW, Washington, D.C. 20202) at NOON!

WHO: Debtors from across the country – including you! We will also be joined by

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (MI)
Rep. Cori Bush (MO)
Layla Elabed (Uncommitted)
Tariq Habash (former Department of Ed appointee who resigned in protest)

Lily Greenberg Call (Jewish-American political appointee to resign from the Biden-Harris administration over its policies in Gaza)
Maddy Clifford (Debt Collective)
Tiffany Loftin (Debt Collective)
Harriet’s Wildest Dreams
Students organizers from Georgetown and NYU
 

HOW: Get to D.C.! Are you joining us from NYC? Sign up here to get your *free spot on the bus! Details: We are meeting at 7am at Atlantic Barclays. There will be coffee and donuts. Masks encouraged. We will head back to NYC at 7:30pm. Email Victoria@debtcollective.org with any questions.
Are you joining from Philly or Boston? We’re sending folks by train. Reach out to nick@debtcollective.org to get support for getting train tickets.We have a bunch of folks from Philly and folks from Boston you can join with on the train ride down!

HOW: Get Trained for Action !

Those interested in engaging in civil disobedience or supporting folks during the action, please join our upcoming training on Monday May 20th at 7pm ET on zoom)


SEE YA ON THE STREETS!

The Debt Collective
https://debtcollective.org