PSC says adjuncts were fired for supporting Palestine

The union representing faculty and other pedagogical staff at the city’s public university system has called on CUNY’s leadership to reinstate four adjuncts who publicly protested in support of Palestine and subsequently, and suddenly, were not reappointed.

Three Brooklyn College adjuncts in various departments were notified on June 13 that they were not reappointed — even though they had been assigned classes for the upcoming fall semester, according to a recent letter to CUNY Chancellor Matos Rodríguez from the Professional Staff Congress. 

A fourth adjunct had also received a notice of termination a week earlier. The union noted that the adjuncts were not told of any job performance issues or misconduct allegations that might have contributed to any of the non-reappointments or the firing. None of the adjuncts’ department chairs were given advance notice, the PSC said. 

“All of this is highly irregular,” PSC President James Davis wrote in his letter.

CUNY adjuncts who teach 12 consecutive semesters have some level of job security: they are entitled to a two-year appointment, which can be extended to three years at the departments’ discretion. 

While the PSC noted that it wasn’t unusual for adjuncts at CUNY to not be reappointed without explanation, the union found a “fact pattern [that] is deeply concerning.” 

“What the four instructors who lost their CUNY jobs at the same time have in common is their public protest against Israel and advocacy for Palestinian rights,” Davis stated. “We are profoundly concerned about recent apparent violations of academic freedom and retaliation against CUNY faculty members for constitutionally protected speech. This situation has all the appearances of an ideological purge.”

The union alluded to CUNY’s Manual of General Policy, which states that the university should advocate “all ideas protected by the First Amendment” of the Constitution and the principles of academic freedom. The PSC’s contract also calls on both the union and the university to maintain “full freedom of inquiry” and academic freedom for faculty members.

“When academic freedom and freedom of speech are not protected, irrespective of the faculty member’s particular rank or title, it sends a chilling message to the campus community. It also devalues the profession. It says that some faculty members possess these rights, but not those on contingent appointments,” Davis wrote.

Since the start of the conflict in Gaza, higher-education faculty at Columbia University, New York University and Muhlenberg College who expressed pro-Palestine views have faced suspension or termination. Two educators previously told The Chief that they were fired or forced to resign from the city public school system after being doxxed for expressing support for Palestine.

The PSC president also highlighted CUNY leaders’ decisions to suspend faculty for their alleged ideological beliefs during the McCarthy era. “Brooklyn College President Harry Gideonse believed then that he was helping the country root out communism. This ideological purge at CUNY and beyond is widely understood today as a terrible stain on the nation’s history,” Davis wrote.

The union leader called on the university to reinstate the workers “and an explanation to the affected department chairs, around whose backs these non-reappointments occurred.”

On June 26, the PSC passed a resolution against retaliatory firings of CUNY faculty. “Whereas, Brooklyn College recently terminated one adjunct faculty member and nonreappointed at least three others almost simultaneously in what appears to be retaliation for their lawful political expression outside of the classroom…Be it resolved that the PSC unequivocally condemns the retaliatory dismissal of these faculty members and demands their immediate reappointment,” the resolution states.

The union also plans to hold a rally Monday at City Hall opposing the Trump administration’s efforts to repress free speech at universities across the country.

clewis@thechiefleader.com