On September 26, 2024, Maura Finkelstein, a tenured associate professor of anthropology, publicly announced that Muhlenberg College had fired her in May. According to Muhlenberg, the decision to terminate Finkelstein’s contract was made in response to a social media post that she shared that was critical of Zionism.
Finkelstein is an expert on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and taught several courses related to the topic during her time at Muhlenberg. Muhlenberg made the decision to dismiss her under pressure from alumni, elected officials, and the general public. On October 29, 2023, a group of Muhlenberg alumni created a petition on change.org calling for the university to fire her, pointing to comments that Finkelstein had made on her social media accounts and in emails to the Muhlenberg community, in which she had criticized Israeli state policies and Zionism. Muhlenberg students also reportedly raised complaints over Finkelstein’s social media commentary. On January 11, during a 24-hour period, thousands of automated emails were sent to members of Muhlenberg’s administration, calling for Finkelstein’s dismissal. On January 17, 2024, Muhlenberg’s provost informed Finkelstein that, based on the change.org petition, she had been named in a US Department of Education complaint against the college for antisemitism.
On January 24, the director of Muhlenberg’s Office of Equity and Title IX emailed Finkelstein notifying her that she was being placed on paid leave. The email came after a student filed a complaint against Finkelstein for a social media post that she had shared on January 17. The post featured a quote from Palestinian poet Remi Kanazi condemning Zionism. Muhlenberg hired an external firm to investigate the complaint.
On May 30, Muhlenberg’s provost and president notified Finkelstein that they were terminating her position with the university. According to an investigation completed by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), the decision to fire Finkelstein and subsequent appeals process did not follow proper procedures. The external firm hired by Muhlenberg found that Finkelstein’s Instagram post did not constitute a violation and subsequently provided those findings to a panel of three college staff members selected by the Title IX office. The staff committee apparently disregarded the report from the consulting form, instead finding Finkelstien responsible for four counts of discrimination and harassment, recommending “termination for just cause.” Finkelstein was not afforded any hearing prior to her dismissal.
On June 10, Finkelstein filed an appeal with an external firm retained by Muhlenberg to adjudicate on the matter. In September, the firm upheld Muhlenberg’s decision. In the meantime, on August 13, Finkelstein filed a separate appeal with Muhlenberg’s Faculty Personnel and Policies Committee (FPPC). On January 22, 2025, the FPPC issued its report, finding that Muhlenberg had not provided sufficient evidence to show that Finkelstein’s extramural speech was cause to fire her and recommended that the college reconsider her dismissal. Muhlenberg’s president unilaterally rejected the FPPC’s findings on March 31.
On April 29, the AAUP released its report on Finkelstein’s dismissal, finding that Muhlenberg had violated Finkelstein’s academic freedom by dismissing her without cause based on protected expression and, in doing so, severely undermined the environment for academic freedom at the college.
Scholars at Risk is concerned about the dismissal of a professor in retaliation for nonviolent expression. University authorities have an obligation to refrain from retaliatory actions intended to punish, restrict, or chill the nonviolent exercise of academic freedom or free expression. In addition to the harm to the immediate victim, terminations stemming from such activity undermine academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and democratic society generally.
Sources:
https://www.aaup.org/report/academic-freedom-and-tenure-muhlenberg-college-pennsylvania
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/04/29/aaup-report-backs-tenured-pro-palestine-prof-who-was-fired
https://muhlenbergweekly.com/news/muhlenberg-under-investigation-professor-placed-on-leave/
https://muhlenbergweekly.com/news/muhlenberg-alumni-petition-for-professors-removal/
https://www.change.org/p/muhlenberg-college-must-remove-professor-finkelstein-for-dangerous-pro-hamas-rhetoric
https://theintercept.com/2024/09/26/tenured-professor-fired-palestine-israel-zionism/
https://mesana.org/advocacy/committee-on-academic-freedom/2024/09/26/letter-to-muhlenberg-college-about-the-threatened-termination-of-tenured-professor-maura-finkelstein
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/academic-freedom/2024/09/27/tenured-jewish-prof-says-shes-fired-pro-palestine
https://www.chronicle.com/article/this-tenured-professor-says-she-was-fired-her-case-tests-the-limits-of-academic-freedom