New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Tuesday ordered the public system to pursue a professor of Palestinian Studies at Hunter College.
CUNY quickly followed, Hunter’s faculty members’ invasive invasion of academic affairs by their so-called powerful state legislators.
The post is published for “a long-standing scholar who brings critical perspectives to issues related to Palestine including but not limited to: settler colonialism, genocide, human rights, apartheid, immigration, climate and infrastructure disasters, health, race, race, gender, gender and sexual behavior.”
The post continues: “We are willing to adopt a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches.”
Hawkel said in a statement Tuesday night that the posts used the terms “settler colonialism,” “genocide” and “apartheid” to constitute an anti-Semitic attack and ordered CUNY to “remove immediately” the release.
Hours later, CUNY complied, and the system Prime Minister Félix Matos Rodríguez echoed Hochul’s criticism of the post.
“We found this language split, polarized and inappropriate, and strongly agreed with Governor Hawkel’s instructions to remove this post, and we have made sure that Hunter Academy has completed it,” he wrote in a statement.
Hochul also directed the university system to conduct investigations in Hunter, “to ensure that anti-Semitic theory is not promoted in the classroom.” Matos Rodríguez also seemed to suggest that the system would follow the order as well, saying: “CUNY will continue to work with the governor and other stakeholders to address anti-Semiticism on our campus.”
A CUNY spokesman declined to say whether the system would investigate in a Hunter post, but wrote in an email: “Each university is responsible for its own faculty position.”
Hochul’s order comes after Israeli militants, including former CUNY trustees and current professors, publicly feared the post’s attention.
“Totally make the Palestine study course completely involves so-called Jewish crime, similar to the one offered in the Nazi era that attributes all crimes in the world to Jews,” Jeffrey Weisenfeld New York Post.
According to several professors, Hunter’s faculty is excited about the decision Internal Advanced ED On record and background. They say it was a surrender to the political pressure they long believed to be firmly independent institutions.
A long-time hunter and CUNY graduate center professor, with Internal Advanced ED Teachers across the system are fearful of their work due to fear of work, which is a condition for “angry at our governor and our prime minister at this Craven’s behavior.”
“This shows [Matos Rodríguez] They have no commitment to academic freedom or moral compass, which will bring him to his feet at this moment of political repression. ” they said.
CUNY’s Professional Staff Conference, which represents more than 30,000 faculty and staff on the system’s 25 campuses, wrote a letter to Matos Rodriguez on Wednesday night condemning the removal of the position and calling on leadership to revoke their decision.
“Election officials decide what topics may be taught in public universities are boundaries that should not be crossed,” the letter reads. “The ‘schizon concept’ criteria for universities are designed by Florida and should not be exported to New York. What is needed is an inclusive approach to teaching, not abolishing concepts and research areas.”
It is not clear whether Wednesday will edit and repost work releases, or whether business openings will be cancelled. A CUNY spokesman declined to answer questions about the job’s future, but anonymous teachers said they believe hunter officials are revising the position with an intention to reposition the position.
The anonymous professor said they were concerned that Hunter President Nancy Cantor would take the position after ten years leading Rutgers University, Newark, which could face severe scrutiny after release.
“We fully support this president’s initiative to get this Palestinian research cluster hired,” the anonymous professor said. “I’m very worried about Nancy Cantor’s tenure at Hunter. I think it’s part of the biggest purpose of getting rid of Félix. [Matos Rodríguez]at least, it wouldn’t surprise me if he threw Nancy Canto under the bus to save his skin. ”
Hunter’s associate professor of sociology, Heba Goway, said she was shocked that Hochul had made the job a priority, especially as the threat to academic freedom and the threat to Republican attacks on higher education are increasing.
“It’s an unprecedented authority, but it’s not from Republicans, but from Democrats from one of the blueest countries in the country,” she said. “They are the people who should fight to protect academic freedom. It’s a huge abdication to that responsibility.”
“Aura of fear”
The anonymous professor said their colleagues were struggling for the emotions of competition: anger and fear. They say there is a good appetite, but they also feel it is more dangerous than ever.
“People are totally worried,” they said. “This is the atmosphere of fear created by this action.”
This is not the first time CUNY has responded to pressure from pro-Israeli radical groups in teacher workforce decision-making. Since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, CUNY institutions have decided to renew contracts for two vocally pro-Palestinian professors: Danny Shaw at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, who says he was the target of a pro-Israel pressure campaign to get him fired after 18 years of teaching, and lecturer Lisa Hofman-Kuroda at Hunter, who was reported for pro-Palestinian social media posts.
Xiao is currently suing CUNY for breach of contract, he told Internal Advanced ED The decision to delete the job posting didn’t surprise him.
“It’s McCarthyism 2.0,” he said. “The administrators won’t protect us. It’s clear that, at the end of the day, either their necks are on the chopping block or our necks.”
Last spring, when protests led by student-led pro-Palestine camp spread from townships to New York City College, CUNY leadership drew criticism for calling on the NYPD to disperse students. Gowayed said the decision shocked teachers across the system, who were proud of the progressive reputation of their institutions and the history of academic integrity.
Even then, she said she was “uneasy because they made it to a higher level of review of faculty and staff to conduct fully legal positions.”
The Palestinian Studies position is one of two hunters that the program hires, and Gowai said Hunter’s teacher and leadership have always supported programs to expand their research and teaching capabilities.
“Whatever your feelings about Palestine, this is a field of research in the scholarships for genocide and apartheid,” Gowayed said. “Whether you are studying Belgium Congo, Rwanda or Palestine, these are good areas and posting doesn’t even say what approach teachers should take… The response to this post is not different from the actual academic integrity of job search.”
