Barnard AAUP holds community teach-in addressing future of free speech on campus

On March 12, Barnard AAUP professors came together to publicly address the challenges to free speech and activism on campus in a “dangerous time for academic freedom, and free speech.”

Photo by Merielen Espino/The Barnard Bulletin

By Kimberly Wing

April 3, 2025

With increasing concerns about administrative responses to recent on-campus demonstrations, Barnard College’s American Association of University Professors (AAUP) chapter organized a teach-in on Wednesday, March 12. The teach-in focused on preserving free speech and activism on college campuses under the second Trump administration, which one of the organizers described as a “dangerous time for academic freedom, and free speech more generally.”

The teach-in addressed recent events at Barnard and Columbia, including the detainment of Mahmoud Khalil (SIPA ’24), Columbia’s $400 million cuts in government funding, the defunding of transgender resources, and the expulsions and sit-ins at Barnard. Discussion around Khalil’s detainment by ICE was emphasized, with the teach-in noting that several liberal Jewish groups such as the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the New York Jewish Agenda, and Zioness condemned his arrest.

The teach-in hosted five speakers, including A. Naomi Paik, associate professor of criminology, law and justice, and global Asian studies at the University of Illinois, Chicago; Sarah Haley, associate professor of history and director of the Institute for the Study of Sexuality and Gender at Columbia; Rebecca “Beck” Jordan-Young, the Ann Whitney Olin Professor of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Barnard College; Maya Wind (BC ’13), University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Riverside; and Rana Jaleel, professor of women, gender, and sexuality studies at the University of California, Davis, and an AAUP national representative.

Professor Paik described that universities, which are often sites of social engagement and experimentation, have been the Trump administration’s “prime target in efforts to destroy democracy.” She criticized Barnard and Columbia administrations as “authoritative” for allowing police on campus to use violence against students involved in activism. Paik referred to Khalil’s detainment as an “experiment” to test “how far [ICE and the Trump administration] could go.” She suggested that these issues “require acting” and impact everyone, regardless of identity. Paik also suggested “bringing the world we want to see into small, organized spaces” and committing to a “democratic, decolonized university” by “[creating] something genuinely, something democratic, governed by the people… and with our students and workers.”

Professor Haley reflected on the historical contexts of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and their connections to the American Civil Rights Movement. She connected DEI to the historical Black freedom struggle, desegregation, and civil rights movements that advocated for the full employment of Black women. Despite DEI’s intentions, Haley criticized its efforts as a “minimalist guardrail against the most draconian forms of racism,” since she views many of DEI’s goals being achieved “through discipline rather than addition and resource allocation.” Haley also denounced the comparison of anti-war protestors against the Israel-Hamas War to KKK rallies and anti-Black racial history. She stated that making these comparisons, as well as recent government policies that promote book banning, transphobia, xenophobia, and detaining and imprisoning activists, normalize anti-Black terror.

Professor Jordan-Young criticized the Trump administration’s funding cuts as “the targeted removal and denial of information” that threatens those in power. She gave modern examples of these kinds of “ignorance,” including the use of herbicides, climate change denial, and undermining the impacts of colonial histories. She mentioned the cuts in funding for the Pentagon’s social science research, which are topics that are “writ large” and can act as sources that are “threatening and dangerous” for dissent. Additionally, Jordan-Young argued that Columbia’s $400 million cut in federal funding was a way to bring the University in line with the Trump administration’s politics by using antisemitism as a “Trojan horse.”

Maya Wind (BC ’13) emphasized that Khalil’s abduction was “anticipated,” and that Barnard and Columbia’s administrations have been ineffective in protecting students from the Trump administration’s “targeted campaign on assault of academic freedom.” Wind, an Israeli scholar, criticized campus suspensions, expulsions, arrests, and the presence of ICE on campus. She explained that these actions are “not designed to keep anyone safe” and create a hostile environment, especially for Jewish students. Wind also criticized Columbia's insistence on maintaining its involvement in Israeli programs, such as the dual degree program with Tel Aviv University and the Global Center in Tel Aviv, which she viewed as investments in organizations that profit from Palestinian oppression. She further explained that maintaining these ties allows the administration to “undermine, incriminate, and sabotage student protests.” Wind also stated, “This university does not belong to the government, does not belong to the state of Israel, it belongs to the community. You make this university, you are this university.”

Professor Jaleel emphasized students’ right to learn, and to “not be fed a controlled, sanitized curriculum.” She noted that education does not mean “reproducing the institution as it is” but is a way to “[hold] space so it can be something more.” Jaleel insisted that faculty have input in curriculum because the role of professors is to “serve the public” and to “make sure people know how to think critically.” Jaleel also criticized cuts to Columbia’s academic research, which “compromise” students’ ability to learn. She noted that this research is unrelated to on-campus student protests. Additionally, Jaleel warned that attempted deportations and disappearances may become a “new campus normal” if antisemitism “is rampant at the University,” and that “the university doesn’t know what to do about it.” She urged university administrations to affirm the need for democratic leadership by fighting antisemitism and other forms of discrimination. 

Jaleel also criticized the way both students and faculty have been surveilled, harassed, and threatened by board members, donors, and others for legitimate academic inquiry, such as how a Yale Law School scholar involved in pro-Palestinian activism was suspended after an AI-powered news website wrote that she was a member of a terrorist organization. Jaleel suggested the audience think critically about what information they share online. She also encouraged everyone to “think through and talk through” the connections between antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Palestinian discrimination.

After the five teach-in guests spoke, audience members were invited to provide their input on the topic and given two minutes each to speak. Several students spoke, as well as Barnard faculty members identifying themselves as Christina Milnor, professor of classics who acted as a negotiator during the Milbank Hall sit-in; Dominic T. Walker, professor of sociology; and Hillary Callahan, professor of biology. Throughout the discussions, several audience members and teach-in speakers voiced their disagreement with the disruption of a History of Modern Israel course at Columbia. 

“We don’t let the right tell us what we can teach, but we can’t let the left either,” Professor Jaleel further explained.

The teach-in ended around 9 p.m., having run longer than anticipated.

Campus News Staff Writer Theresa Cullen contributed to reporting for this article.