(Brooklyn, NY)– More than 150 City University of New York faculty and staff joined City Council Member Alexa Avilés braving the rain and rallying at the Bedford Avenue gates of Brooklyn College today demanding the reinstatement of four Brooklyn College faculty members fired in violation of their academic freedom and as apparent retaliation for protected First Amendment speech. Speakers condemned the increased repression of political speech at CUNY as part of the Trump Administration’s McCarthyite campaign to dismantle and defund higher education.
Professional Staff Congress President James Davis Participates in Brooklyn College Rally, Credit: Paul Frangipane
“CUNY administrators have investigated faculty for the terms in which they discuss the war in Gaza in their classes, limited the time, place, and manner for exercising the right to free expression on campus, invited police violence against non-violent student protestors, and even fired faculty in apparent retribution for their political activism. Universities must stand against fascism, not accommodate it. Our fired colleagues have been denied due process and must be reinstated immediately,” said James Davis, President of the Professional Staff Congress, the union representing CUNY faculty, and a Brooklyn College professor.
“As a proud Brooklyn College alum, I am deeply concerned that my alma mater appears to be undermining academic freedom,” said Council Member Shahana Hanif, Brooklyn College Class of 2015. “The recent faculty dismissals raise serious concerns about due process and institutional independence. I support PSC-CUNY’s call for their reinstatement and urge CUNY leadership to reaffirm its commitment to protecting free expression.”
City Council Member Alexa Avilés Participates in Brooklyn College Rally, Credit: Paul Frangipane
In June, three Brooklyn College adjunct faculty were non-reappointed and a fourth was terminated, almost simultaneously. In each case, the appointments committee and department chair had approved the instructor’s reappointment. In no case was the job performance of the instructor evaluated as unsatisfactory. What the four have in common is their public advocacy for Palestinian rights. The union has filed a formal grievance and passed a resolution calling for the adjuncts’ reinstatement.
CUNY Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez linked faculty firings to involvement in protests advocating for Palestinian human rights when he testified at a July 15th hearing of the House Higher Education and Workforce Development committee, saying in his exchange with Representative Rick Allen (R-Georgia): “we have terminated individuals on the faculty or staff for violating our policies on antisemitism.” The hearing was purported to be about combating antisemitism. In reality, it was part of a broad, systematic MAGA attack on higher education as many Democrats on the committee emphasized. Matos Rodríguez must reject the false premise that campus activism related to the rights of the Palestinian people is tantamount to antisemitism.
New York MAGA Republicans like Representative Elise Stefanik and Councilmember Inna Vernikov have called for firing of faculty who have protested Israel’s war on Gaza. On July 9, Vernikov called the firings a “last ditch attempt … to save face” before the Chancellor’s appearance before the hearing. After the hearing on July 15, Vernikov stood with Representative Stefanik as they called for the Chancellor’s firing. In 2023, Vernikov appeared at a student protest outside Brooklyn College openly carrying a gun, for which she was arrested although charges were later dismissed.
Protestors at the rally held signs that said “No to the New McCarthyism” and “Stop the War on Universities” while chanting “Come for four, face us all!”
Mobina Hashmi and Joseph Entin, Co-Chairs of the Brooklyn College chapter of the Professional Staff Congress, explained: “The fight to reinstate our four fired colleagues is a crucial struggle for these four instructors, who are talented and dedicated teachers; for adjuncts as a group, who teach the majority of classes at CUNY, but lack job security; and for academic freedom and higher education, which are under direct political assault. The Trump administration is using threats of withdrawing federal funding to try to bring colleges and universities into ideological conformity with its right-wing agenda. As faculty and staff, we will stand together to defend our colleagues and the integrity of our beloved CUNY.”
Distinguished Professor of Political Science and History, Jeanne Theoharis, said, “We are here today to call on Chancellor Matos Rodriguez and President Anderson to stand up to the bullies, reinstate the fired four, and reject the new McCarthyism. We are here to say that there might be costs to standing up, as there have been before in history, but it’s time to decide: our students and faculty—the fate of public education and academic freedom— are worth it.”
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Published: July 31, 2025 | Last Modified: August 6, 2025
