San Jose State ordered to give professor back her job after firing found to be “excessive”

An arbitrator ordered San José State University to reinstate professor Sang Hea Kil, who was fired in 2025 for pro-Palestinian activism, ruling that the termination was "excessive" and reducing it to a one-month unpaid suspension. The California Faculty Association announced the decision, calling it a win for academic freedom, while the university declined to comment. Kil is considered one of the first tenured professors fired from a U.S. public university over Gaza war protests.

Getting your Trinity Audio //trinityaudio.ai player ready...San José State University must reinstate Sang Hea Kil, a professor who was fired for her pro-Palestinian activism in 2025, after an arbitrator decided the school went too far in her firing. The California Faculty Association announced the ruling Monday https://www.calfac.org/cfa-celebrates-dr-sang-hea-kils-order-for-reinstatement-as-a-win-for-academic-freedom/ in a statement calling for further protections for academic speech. The arbitrator deemed Kil’s termination to be an “excessive” punishment and said it should be reduced to a one-month unpaid suspension, according to the organization. “What happened to me was part of a broader effort to silence pro-Palestinian solidarity in academia,” said Kil. “While I am relieved to return to my students and the classroom, the reality is that no educator should have to risk their career to defend basic human rights.” San Jose State University declined to comment, citing “ongoing personnel matters.” Kil is widely considered one of the first full-time, tenured professors to be fired https://www.insidehighered.com/news/deep-dives/2026/01/26/tenure-under-threat from a public U.S. university in connection with the student protests over the war in Gaza that have spread across college campuses nationwide. https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/05/01/gaza-war-protests-erupt-in-violence-chaos-at-some-u-s-campuses-but-remain-peaceful-in-bay-area/ A professor of justice studies and former faculty advisor for Students for Justice in Palestine, she was placed on administrative leave in May 2024 and subsequently fired for “repeated violations of university policies,” https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/05/28/san-jose-state-professor-suspended-after-pro-palestinian-protest/ including directing and encouraging students to violate university policies, engaging in harassing and offensive conduct and comments directed toward colleagues, and targeting at least one colleague for engaging in their work duties by publicly identifying them and posting inflammatory comments and creating a risk of harm to them. Kil rejected the claims, arguing her suspension was due to her pro-Palestinian activism on campus and alleged the university’s actions were an “academic freedom suppression campaign against her.” Advocacy organizations including the Council on American-Islamic Relations California https://ca.cair.com/action/defend-academic-freedom-at-sjsu-reinstate-dr-sang-hea-kil/ , J https://www.instagram.com/p/DZ5 9Wnht32/ ewish Voice for Peace https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/2025/12/10/on-sjsu-firing-of-tenured-professor-sang-hea-kil/ and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression http://fire.org/colleges/san-jose-state-university/scholars under fire condemned Kil’s termination and called for her reinstatement. The national nonprofit Middle East Studies Association also called for the rescinding of her termination https://mesana.org/advocacy/committee-on-academic-freedom/2025/06/20/letter-to-san-jose-state-university-regarding-the-termination-of-professor-sang-hea-kil . A faculty review panel determined late last year that the university’s decision to fire Kil was not justified, but the university upheld her termination anyway, the California Faculty Association said Monday. The organization said it has “never seen such an overreach in punishing faculty.” “We have witnessed a disturbing pattern of faculty across the country, in California, Pennsylvania, Texas, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Washington, facing consequences for pro-Palestinian speech,” the association said. “The Trump administration has attempted to use accusations of antisemitism as cover to regulate our speech and silence dissent specifically to target progressive voices critical of the actions of Israel against Palestinians while ignoring right-wing forces of antisemitism and hate speech.” investigating universities’ handling of antisemitism complaints across the country that arose amid student protests of the war in Gaza. https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/07/25/a-timeline-of-trump-actions-on-ed/ Both the California State University https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/10/17/california-state-faculty-sue-university/ and the University of California https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/09/12/uc-berkeley-shares-names-of-students-staff-with-feds-amid-antisemitism-investigation/ received widespread backlash for handing over the personal information of students and faculty to the Trump administration as part of the federal government’s investigations into alleged antisemitism. In October, the California Faculty Association sued the CSU system https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/10/17/california-state-faculty-sue-university/ after it handed over the personal phone numbers and email addresses of 2,600 Los Angeles campus employees to the federal government as part of the investigation. The faculty association reached a settlement with the university system https://www.calfac.org/cfa-settles-lawsuit-with-csu-over-disclosure-of-faculty-personal-information-to-trump-administration/ in January. The organization also called for stronger protections for faculty against censorship or retaliation. “Given the attacks on academic freedom that are happening within the CSU and on campuses all over the country, we will continue the fight to protect faculty’s rights to express dissenting views, and to encourage students to think critically as a part of the educational experience,” the organization said. “A flourishing democracy relies on our ability to challenge the status quo and narratives we disagree with, and public higher education serves as a cornerstone for these dialogues.” The San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a statement Wednesday that Kil’s case reflects a “broader, systemic climate across higher education, in which faculty, students and advocates for Palestinian rights face heightened institutional scrutiny, doxing, and discipline for their speech.” “While this ruling is a significant victory for academic freedom, it exposes the extreme, retaliatory measures universities are willing to take to suppress pro-Palestinian speech,” said Zahra Billoo, executive director of the organization’s Bay Area chapter.