The USA PotatoThe Fight to Defend Pro-Palestine Speech on Campus Isn’t Over
Targeted for pro-Palestine speech, these academics are refusing to back down.https://murica.website/2026/03/the-fight-to-defend-pro-palestine-speech-on-campus-isnt-over/
petersuberUpdate. For a good history of US efforts to classify support for #Palestinians and criticism of #Israel as #antisemitism, see the Nov 2025 report from the Middle East Studies Association (#MESA) and the American Association of University Professors (#AAUP), "Discriminating Against Dissent: The Weaponization of Civil Rights Law to Repress Campus Speech on Palestine."
https://mesana.org/pdf/Discriminating_Against_Dissent_Report.pdf
There's a good (but #paywalled) summary of the report in this week's Chronicle of Higher Education.
https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-civil-rights-law-was-turned-against-civil-rights
#Academia #AcademicMastodon #Universities #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics
BongolianJohnda Bentley: Legal Watch: Coalition Litigation Strengthens the Defense of Academic Freedom
"The message is clear: Academic freedom is most effectively defended when we defend it together. This case provides evidence that our partnerships with other unions broaden our capacity to defend academic freedom legally, politically, and institutionally. …"
#law #AAUP #union #university #freespeech
https://www.aaup.org/issue/winter-2026/legal-watch-coalition-litigation-strengthens-defense-academic-freedom
Cornell on FireDue to freezing temperatures, we are postponing our meditation action originally planned for this Friday - Join us instead on Friday March 20 for a special meditation with the Trustees, who will be in town!
#climatechange #action #meditation #activism #Cornell #Ithaca #Sunrise #AAUP #union
Will HanleyReally pleased that #MESA and #AAUP are zealously defending academic freedom. Assertiveness gets results--assuming this proposal becomes an order. Awful that it is members-only, though. Sorry that #AHA and other societies did not join the action. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/us/politics/student-protester-deportations-trump-khalil.html
Update. The Trump admin is demanding a list of Jewish faculty, staff, and students at #UPenn.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/13/upenn-trump-jews-list
Trump's #EEOC asked for the list last July. Penn refused, and the EEOC sued the university in November. What's new is that several groups just filed a motion in federal court to intervene in the lawsuit on the side of the university -- the American Association of University Professors (#AAUP, national and UPenn chapters), the American Academy of Jewish Research, the UPenn Jewish Law Students Association, the UPenn Association of Senior and Emeritus Faculty.
From #StevenWeitzman, UPenn prof of religious studies and past member of its antisemitism taskforce: “Part of what sets off alarm bells for people like me is a history of people using Jewish lists against Jews. The Nazi campaign against Jews depended on institutions like universities handing over information about their Jewish members to the authorities.”
#Academia #AcademicMastodon #Antisemitism #Trump #Universities #USPol #USPolitics
Dr. Baba Kofi WeusijanaSupport Sang while they fight repression! Venmo @sangheakil ❤️
The #SJSU president has overturned the Faculty Hearing Outcome and upheld Sang’s firing. The #AAUP believes that Sang may be the first full tenured professor fired for #Palestine.
#California #Israel #Gaza #War #TrumpAdministration #HigherEducation #USeducation #USProtest #USpol #USpolitics #news
https://www.instagram.com/bayarealabor4palestine/p/DRhzyKAj6UH/
The #SJSU president has overturned the Faculty Hearing Outcome and upheld Sang’s firing. The #AAUP believes that Sang may be the first full tenured professor fired for #Palestine.
#California #Israel #Gaza #War #TrumpAdministration #HigherEducation #USeducation #USProtest #USpol #USpolitics #news
https://www.instagram.com/bayarealabor4palestine/p/DRhzyKAj6UH/
Bay Area Labor For Palestine on Instagram: "Support Sang while they fight repression! Venmo @sang-kil ❤️ The SJSU president has overturned the Faculty Hearing Outcome and upheld Sang’s firing. The AAUP believes that Sang may be the first full tenured professor fired for Palestine. As Sang moves into arbitration, their abeyance expires on 11/26/25 and is not being extended. This means no pay and no benefits while Sang continues to fight their case. The best way to immediately financially support Sang is via their Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/sang-kil. We all are invested in this outcome! Please support Sang while they fight their case!"
1,112 likes, 35 comments - bayarealabor4palestine on November 26, 2025: "Support Sang while they fight repression! Venmo @sang-kil ❤️ The SJSU president has overturned the Faculty Hearing Outcome and upheld Sang’s firing. The AAUP believes that Sang may be the first full tenured professor fired for Palestine. As Sang moves into arbitration, their abeyance expires on 11/26/25 and is not being extended. This means no pay and no benefits while Sang continues to fight their case. The best way to immediately financially support Sang is via their Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/sang-kil. We all are invested in this outcome! Please support Sang while they fight their case!".
Update. Here's the announcement from the American Association of University Professors (#AAUP), a co-plaintiff in the case.
https://www.aaup.org/news/win-aaup-v-trump-court-blocks-attacks-university-california-system
"Friday’s decision orders a stop to the Trump administration’s illegal weaponization of civil rights laws and federal funding to restrict free speech on UC campuses. During the hearing on the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction, the court noted the overwhelming evidence plaintiffs provided, which included numerous declarations from UC faculty and staff describing how the administration’s actions have chilled their rights of speech and association."
#Academia #AcademicMastodon #Censorship #DefendResearch #FirstAmendment #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics #UCalifornia #Universities
"Federal judge sides with #UCalifornia employees in free speech lawsuit against Trump administration."
https://www.dailycal.org/news/uc/federal-judge-sides-with-uc-employees-in-free-speech-lawsuit-against-trump-administration/article_e3b28762-0801-49c7-ae1e-4f50c56d76a6.html
"In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin ordered the federal government to cease threats of withholding federal funding, as well as to 'address Plaintiffs’ irreparable harm and to restore the status quo.' "
#Academia #AcademicMastodon #AAUP #Censorship #DefendResearch #FirstAmendment #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics #Universities
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