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Yale and Harvard universities have removed academic staff from their posts in response to increasing pressure on universities from the Trump administration to address antisemitism on campus or risk losing federal funding. In addition interim president of Columbia University Katrina Armstrong stepped down Friday after the school agreed to implement a series of changes to regain access to $400 million in previously frozen federal funds.
Yale Law School said Friday it had terminated Helyeh Doutaghi, a research scholar who was placed on leave earlier this month following accusations of ties to a group under U.S. sanctions. The university cited her refusal to cooperate with an internal investigation.
“As a result of her refusal to cooperate with this investigation, Ms. Doutaghi’s employment with Yale, which was already set to expire this April, has been terminated effective immediately,” Yale Law School spokesperson Alden Ferro said in a statement.
The school said it reviewed materials indicating Doutaghi was identified as a member of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network on the group’s website. In October, the Biden administration labeled Samidoun a “sham charity” that serves as a fundraising arm for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which the U.S. government designates as a terrorist organization.
“To be clear, Yale does not take administrative action based on press reports and such an action is never initiated based on a person’s protected speech,” Ferro said.
Doutaghi responded on social media, calling the move a “blatant act of retaliation against Palestinian solidarity” and characterizing attacks against her as “defamatory smears amplified by fascist trolls.”
At Harvard, the university’s student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, reported that the heads of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies — Professor of Turkish Studies Cemal Kafadar and History Professor Rosie Bsheer — are being forced to step down from their roles. The center has faced criticism for programming that some have labeled antisemitic.
Kafadar ass expected to leave his position by the end of the academic year, according to a university memo obtained by the Crimson. The announcement came shortly after the Harvard School of Public Health suspended a partnership with Birzeit University in the West Bank.
Neither Kafadar nor Bsheer responded to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences also did not respond to messages seeking comment.
The federal government has threatened to withhold funding from universities following accusations from Republican lawmakers and President Donald Trump that campuses are fostering antisemitism and providing cover for foreign students who support Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. Some university leaders have raised concerns that the administration’s efforts could infringe on academic freedom and conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism.
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At Columbia University, President Katrina Armstrong stepped down Friday after the school agreed to implement a series of changes — including banning masks, expanding campus police powers, and appointing a senior vice provost to oversee the Department of Middle East, South Asian and African Studies — to regain access to $400 million in previously frozen federal funds. Armstrong later reportedly downplayed the policy changes in a Zoom call with faculty, prompting backlash from conservative critics.