US professor suspended for describing 7 October as 'exhilarating' reinstated by university
An American professor who was removed from her teaching position after describing the Hamas-led operation against Israel on 7 October as "exhilarating" will be allowed back into the classroom after a college investigation found her comments had not endangered any of her students.
In a statement sent out to the university community earlier this week, Mark Gearan, president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges (HWS), said an investigation into Jodi Dean's conduct had concluded that whereas "certain of Professor Dean’s statements caused harm to members of our community and were inconsistent with our community values and principles ... Professor Dean’s conduct did not rise to the level of harassment or discrimination under the law or our policies."
Gearan said the college had adopted the investigator’s recommended findings.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
"Professor Dean is free to return to the classroom this fall," he added.
In April, Dean, considered a leading American political theorist, wrote an essay titled, “Palestine Speaks for Everyone”, in which she examined how American academia was dictating how students and faculty should think, feel, and speak about the events of 7 October.
The main thrust of Dean's argument revolved around how mainstream academia had stymied independent analysis and had instead chosen to police the way events in Gaza were to be processed.
The college responded by removing Dean from her duties as a professor at the university, pending an investigation.
The president argued that measures had been taken over the possibility there "may be students on our campus who may feel threatened in or outside of the classroom" by her essay.
On Tuesday, the president said he stood by his comments in April without articulating how he reached the conclusion that students were unsafe in the first place.
'Targeted outreach'
On Thursday, in an email to the college community, Dean welcomed the findings and said she looked forward to the prospect of putting the matter to rest.
However, she expressed reservations about the college process and how the investigation had been conducted. Dean said that the college had hired an investigator to solicit complaints from HWS students about her.
"Over 100 members of the community were contacted and asked if they had information relevant to an investigation as to whether I had violated HWS policies or standards prohibiting harassment and discrimination. The investigator called this 'targeted outreach'.”
'Rather than allowing for thoughtful discussion and reflection, the actions taken by the [college] president aimed to stifle it'
- Jodi Dean
"My lawyer complained about this repeated solicitation but it went on and on," Dean said in her email seen by MEE.
"These efforts apparently failed to turn up a single complaint of any illegal conduct on my part (although it did turn up reports of feeling hurt, threatened, and frightened)."
Dean says the investigator concluded that she did not harass or discriminate against anyone. The investigator also added that students across the political spectrum (including Jewish and/or Israeli students) reported "positive experiences in Professor Dean’s classroom".
Students noted that she fostered healthy debate and tolerated opposing viewpoints and "did not inject personal views on conflict, and kept discussions of the events of October 7 in an academic register".
Dean said that the college had also undermined and abandoned its own process by suspending her from the classroom.
"Rather than allowing for thoughtful discussion and reflection, the actions taken by the president aimed to stifle it," Dean added.
In response to Middle East Eye’s request for comment, HWS told MEE, “We are confident our process was followed and we acted appropriately.”
Israel's war on Gaza has exposed several faultlines at US universities, especially on the question of free speech when it comes to Palestine.
Dean became one of many professors across the US who faced censure, suspension or job loss for expressing views or ideas that challenged the dominant American narrative about the events of 7 October, or Israel's bombardment of Gaza.
Following HWS' decision to remove Dean from the classroom earlier this year, several academics expressed outrage over her treatment.
Faculty at HWS told MEE in April the incident had had a "chilling effect" on staff and students.
"It has had chilling effect on faculty - tenured and untenured - on the whole college community, including students - that somebody would be singled out and disciplined for this. It violates our institutional procedures," Paul Passavant, a professor of politics at HWS, told MEE in April.
"It is a total violation of academic freedom. And it violates the integrity of the institution as an academic institution," Passavant said.
According to the latest figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health, more than 38,300 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its attack on the besieged territory in October.
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
