Hobart and William Smith Colleges: Professor Suspended for Pro-Palestinian Blog Post
Cases
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Case Overview
In an April 13, 2024 email to the Hobart and William Smith Colleges community, President Mark Gearan announced HWS had suspended Professor Jodi Dean from teaching duties in response to her April 9 blog post expressing support for the Palestinian resistance against Israel. Gearan criticized Dean鈥檚 statement about feeling 鈥渆xhilarated and energized by the paragliders on October 7,鈥 stating 鈥渨e can never and will never condone or praise violence.鈥 FIREwrote HWS on April 30, explaining that the colleges鈥 commitment to academic freedom protects professors鈥 right to speak as private citizens on public issues, even when their expression offends others. We called on HWS to promptly reinstate Dean鈥檚 teaching duties.
On July 11, HWS cleared Dean and allowed her to return to the classroom.