As we have been covering on Left Voice, four adjunct faculty at Brooklyn College were fired at the beginning of the summer with “all appearances of an ideological purge” for their pro-Palestine activism outside of the classroom, and one student at City College has been suspended for allegations related to her own participation in pro-Palestine protests. These instances are only the most recent events in a long history of anti-Palestine repression at the City University of New York (CUNY). The firings and suspension appear to be linked to a Congressional hearing led by far-right representatives at which the CUNY Chancellor testified earlier this month, which the faculty, staff, and graduate assistant union and local politicians condemned as using pro-Palestine activism on campus as an excuse to attack academic freedom, higher education funding, organized labor, diversity initiatives, and more.
The union has launched a letter-writing campaign to the Chancellor, the President of Brooklyn College, and the CUNY Board Chairperson demanding reinstatement of the Fired Four, transparency about the process that led to the firings, and to “end CUNY’s complicity with the McCarthyite repression of CUNY students and workers who express public support for Palestine.”
We republish the text of the letter below, and encourage readers, especially those with connections to CUNY, to sign the letter and sign up to get involved in the defense campaign. Supporters can also attend a rally in defense of the Fired Four on Thursday, July 31 at 4pm at Brooklyn College, Bedford Avenue entrance.
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Subject: Immediate Reinstatement of Terminated Adjunct Faculty and Defense of Academic Freedom
I am writing to express my deep concern and unequivocal condemnation of the recent non-reappointment of three adjunct faculty members and termination of another at the City University of New York. No reasons were provided for the non-reappointments. These dismissals, carried out in direct contradiction to unanimous departmental recommendations and without any due process, constitute a grave violation of academic freedom and a dangerous encroachment on faculty governance.
The administration’s unilateral decision to override faculty judgment not only breaks from established practices at CUNY, but also violates widely accepted standards in higher education. As the AAUP’s 1994 statement On the Relationship of Faculty Governance to Academic Freedom clearly affirms: “The governing board and president should, on questions of faculty status, as in other matters where the faculty have primary responsibility, concur with the faculty judgment except in rare instances and for compelling reasons which should be stated in detail.”
As PSC-CUNY members, CUNY students and alumni, and allies, we stand with the fired four. The McCarthyite targeting of CUNY students and workers who stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people through student suspensions, faculty firings, and other disciplinary measures, is part of a broader assault on higher education that includes the Trump Administration’s ideological suppression of scientific and academic inquiry. Their fight is our fight and their silencing is an attack on all of us.
As PSC President James Davis said at a recent press conference, Republican legislators are seeking to “ambush university leaders yet again, to smear faculty and students yet again, to threaten to defund our institutions yet again, and to dismantle higher education.” Instead of aligning with these cynical politicians, CUNY should defend the rights of its own educators and students whose support for Palestinians and criticism of Israel is being suppressed.
The City University of New York now faces a critical choice: it can either continue down a path of administrative overreach and political repression, or it can recommit to its identity as a people’s university dedicated to justice, academic freedom, and critical inquiry.
I call on you to:
1) Immediately reinstate all four faculty members and restore their rights as educators and members of the CUNY community.
2) Provide a full and transparent explanation of the decision-making process behind these terminations, including who made the final call and under what justification.
3) Uphold the First Amendment rights of all members of the CUNY community and end CUNY’s complicity with the McCarthyite repression of CUNY students and workers who express public support for Palestine.
As contingent workers, adjunct faculty are often the first to be targeted—but they will not be the last. In firing these four adjunct faculty members, you are not just targeting individual educators, but sending a clear message to all that dissent and academic freedom have no place at CUNY. I urge you to act decisively and immediately to reverse this course before more damage is done to the integrity of the university.
The post Letter in Defense of the Fired Four at the City University of New York appeared first on Left Voice.