(Bloomberg) — Yale and Harvard removed employees from their posts as the Trump administration pressures universities to combat antisemitism on campus or lose federal funding.
Yale’s Law School said on Friday it terminated Helyeh Doutaghi, a research scholar, who was placed on leave this month after being accused of having alleged ties to a group subject to US sanctions.
“As a result of her refusal to cooperate with this investigation, Ms. Doutaghi’s employment with Yale — which was already set to expire this April — has been terminated effective immediately,” according to a statement from Yale Law spokesman Alden Ferro.
Doutaghi has said on social media that she was targeted as a “blatant act of retaliation against Palestinian solidarity” and described attacks against her as “defamatory smears amplified by fascist trolls.”
Yale said it reviewed materials that included text on the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network’s website identifying Doutaghi as a member of its organization. The Biden administration in October labeled the group a “sham charity” serving as a fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which the US considers a terrorist organization.
“To be clear, Yale does not take administrative action based on press reports and such an action is never initiated based on a person’s protected speech,” Ferro’s statement said.
At Harvard, the student newspaper reported that the faculty leaders of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies — professor of Turkish Studies Cemal Kafadar and History professor Rosie Bsheer — are being forced to leave their posts. The center has been criticized for programing that has been called antisemitic. The Harvard Crimson said Kafadar would step down from his position at the end of the year, citing a memo.
The announcement came days after Harvard said in a university publication that its School of Public Health had suspended a partnership it has with Birzeit University in the West Bank, while it undergoes a review that began last summer.
Andrea Baccarelli, dean of the school, said the review panel is charged with rigorously evaluating the center’s “current status and future potential, offering candid, forthright, and thorough feedback, including any shortcomings or areas of concern.”
Neither Kafadar or Bsheer responded to requests for comment. A spokesman for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences also didn’t respond to messages for comment.
The federal government has threatened to withhold funding for universities after Republican lawmakers and President Donald Trump accused universities of fostering antisemitism and harboring foreign students who have shown support for Hamas, designated a terrorist organization. That’s caused anxiety among some universities that the government is suppressing free speech and conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism.
Columbia University’s interim president Katrina Armstrong stepped down on Friday after the school agreed to ban masks, expand campus police powers and appoint a senior vice provost to oversee the Middle East, South Asian and African Studies department in an effort to unfreeze $400 million in federal money. She later reportedly downplayed the changes to faculty on a zoom call, prompting conservative ire.
Claire Shipman, co-chair of the trustees, was named acting president effective immediately, and will serve until the board finishes its search for a president.
Source| Bloomberg