Yale, Harvard remove employees as Trump adds pressure to elite schools
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The federal government has threatened to withhold funding for universities.
PHOTO: SOPHIE PARK/NYTIMES
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NEW YORK – Yale and Harvard removed employees from their posts as the Trump administration pressures universities to combat anti-semitism on campus or lose federal funding.
Yale’s Law School said on March 28 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.
Ms 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 Ms Doutaghi as a member of its organisation. The Biden administration in October labelled the group a “sham charity” serving as a fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which the US considers a terrorist organisation.
“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,” Mr 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 centre has been criticised for programming that has been called anti-semitic.
The Harvard Crimson said Prof Kafadar would step down from his position at the end of the year, citing a memo. The announcement came days after the Harvard School of Public Health suspended a partnership it has with Birzeit University in the West Bank.
Neither Prof Kafadar or Prof Bsheer responded to requests for comment. A spokesman for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences also did not immediately 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 anti-semitism and harbouring foreign students who have shown support for Palestinian militant group Hamas, designated a terrorist organisation. That has caused anxiety among some universities that the government is suppressing free speech and conflating criticism of Israel with anti-semitism.
Columbia University’s interim president Katrina Armstrong stepped down on March 28
