UC Berkeley, March 15, 2025. Photo: Special to revcom.us
In an outrageous capitulation to the Trump regime's assault on academia, University of California (UC) Berkeley has turned over lists of people, along with extensive personal information, to the federal government. The lists are of 160 students, faculty and staff who have been accused, even anonymously, of “alleged antisemitic incidents.” These 160 are now under investigation by the Department of Education’s “Office of Civil Rights.” The University sent a letter to the professors and students informing them that their names had been turned over, but gave no information about the supposed incident for which each was being investigated, nor who had made the complaint.
This is extremely dangerous and craven caving in to the Trump fascist assault on the universities—and this needs to be opposed by every person of conscience at Cal, and throughout the UC system! UC Berkeley must STOP collaborating with this lawless, illegitimate regime.
UC Berkeley cannot bow down and go along with the grotesque lie that the fascists now running the government are in any way serious about opposing anti-Semitism. Their actual objectives are enforced obedience, thought control, an atmosphere of fear, and the gutting of academic freedom.
Their demands must be defied.
The revcom.us editorial “Draw the Line” on attacks on university students and professors for their pro-Palestinian and anti-genocide views said:
The inescapable fact is this: any college or university which goes along with this command has, whatever they want to tell themselves, become a willing accomplice of fascism. Any university president who bows down to and harnesses their school to Trump's wholesale assault on the truth and on basic academic freedom is betraying the mission of seeking to know the truth and hence not worthy of their post. Any accommodation to this command, by any faculty or any other member of the campus community, no matter how seemingly “just” the excuse, is collaboration.
Listen to and watch message Revolution #132 from Bob Avakian
Judith Butler, a renowned UC Berkeley professor, feminist philosopher and gender studies scholar, who is Jewish and has spoken out and written critically of Israel and Zionism, is one of the 160. They told the Guardian, “We have a right to know the charges against us, to know who has made the charges and to review them and defend ourselves. But none of that has happened, which is why we’re in Kafka-land … It is an enormous breach of trust.” Butler points out that the University’s action reeks of McCarthy Era anti-communism when people were compelled to name names or be blacklisted.
The University defended its action to the Guardian in an email with fascist doublespeak: “We are committed to transparency and supporting our campus community while complying with federal investigations.” This shamefully echoes the pathetic “justification” of those who committed great crimes under Hitler: “We were only following orders.”
A letter to UC President Milliken from the Board of the Free Speech Movement Archives (which memorializes the famous Free Speech Movement at Berkeley in 1964) said:
We find this action by UC to be inexplicable and inexcusable. As you are aware, the Federal government’s position is that criticism of Israel’s genocidal policies in occupied Palestine is per se “antisemitism.” If any of the named individuals was determined to constitute a direct threat to the safety and rights of any other member of the community, there are both campus administrative and law enforcement actions that can be taken to protect the safety of the community. But what your administration appears to have done is to deliver names of members of your community to a vengeful, lawless Federal government?
There is only one appropriate response — the University of California will not cooperate in any way in any attempt to sanction or punish any members of its community for exercising their First Amendment Rights. Period. You have a choice, as we had 61 years ago. When they come for a few, you say, “NO!, you take ALL of us or none of us.” President Miliken, you are an educated man. You know how the poem reads. “First they came for… but I did not stand up, for I was not…”
We call on you to reverse your decision, take a strong stand of defiance of illegitimate authority, or resign. Your actions are cowardly and unacceptable in the president of the greatest public university in the world.
We await your response,
Board of Directors, Free Speech Movement Archives
Bettina Aptheker, Robert Cohen, Susan Druding, Lee Felsenstein, Barbara Garson, Jackie Goldberg, Lynne Hollander Savio, Steve Lustig, Anita Medal (Treasurer), Jack Radey (President), Gar Smith, Barbara Stack, Hanna Tema
In a letter to the administration Judith Butler wrote: “To allow universities to be bossed by political operatives in this way undermines the basic ideals of the university as well as [its] important links to the future of critical thought, dissent, and democracy.” They indicated that faculty were planning resistance to this suppression of academic freedom and political speech.
Now is the time for students, faculty and administrators, everyone with a conscience, to stand up, to demand that the University reverse its stand on giving up names to the government, and to refuse to comply with all further fascist demands. This crucial battle must be waged as an important part of and to contribute to the overall battle to defeat Trump/MAGA fascism and drive it from power. Everyone who opposes this fascism must join with and take up the call from Refuse Fascism to flood Washington, DC starting November 5 in determined, nonviolent protest to drive the Trump fascist regime from power. The time has come for…THE FALL of the TRUMP FASCIST REGIME.
Here are some of the statements from UC Berkeley students, professors and alumni regarding the university handing over 160 names to the fascist government:
UCB Students for Justice in Palestine on Instagram
As we enter day 700 of the genocide in Gaza — with 90% of schools destroyed, hundreds of thousands dead, and starvation and famine ravaging those who remain — our university bows to the Department of Education’s witch hunt over fabricated claims of antisemitism.
In a move as craven as it is corrupt, the Office of Legal Affairs sent an email informing several Berkeley undergrads, graduate students, alumni, and professors that their names had been handed over to the U.S. Department of Education, despite the university’s prior assurances that identities would remain protected. Some of these students were not even aware that investigations had been opened against them.
Compounding the betrayal, this belated email arrived two weeks after the fact, while other UC campuses quietly surrendered student names without any notice — a hollow gesture of transparency that only underscores Berkeley’s duplicity.
It is obvious that the Department of Education and UC Berkeley are using the very office meant to protect civil rights as a Trojan horse to silence anyone who condemns the genocide of the Palestinian people, target those who reject the conflation of Judaism with the genocidal Zionist regime, and disempower those of us who call on our academic institutions to uphold their integrity and honor the BDS mandates that their communities demand.
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from Steve Wasserman on Facebook:
Shameful on every count and as an alumnus of Cal, Class of 1974, I denounce the administration’s cowardice and craven capitulation. We need resistance not submission. More: we need leadership on all fronts. Cal's invertebrate overseers are keen to boast of the victories of the Free Speech Movement even as it betrays its spirit. What a disgrace.
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Stephanie Syjuco (UCB professor and artist) on Instagram:
Of course this is enraging but I am not surprised or shocked. Go Judith Butler, go off on your bad self, and glad you’re with us 🔥🔥🔥. Whether you are on this list or not, you should stand up against it on principle. So much for tooting the “free speech” horn, university.
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