On June 26, 2025, the interim dean of Georgetown University’s College of Arts and Sciences formally informed Jonathan Brown, a professor of Islamic Studies and the Alwaleed bin Talal Chair of Islamic Civilization, that his position as chair would not be renewed because of a social media post that Brown had made. The university’s interim president later stated that Brown had been placed on leave, pending an investigation. The decision came after a politicized outcry over Brown’s posts.
On June 13, 2025, Israel launched military strikes on Iran, ostensibly aimed at degrading or eliminating Iran’s nuclear program. That same day, Iran retaliated with strikes on targets inside Israel. On June 22nd, the United States joined the conflict by launching massive “bunker buster” bombs on underground Iranian nuclear sites. After learning of the US bombings, Brown, an expert in Islamic Studies, tweeted, “I’m not an expert, but I assume Iran could still get a bomb easily. I hope Iran does some symbolic strike on a base, then everyone stops.”
According to Brown, he intended the tweet as a call for de-escalation, similar to an exchange of attacks between the US and Iran in 2020. However, a conservative social media account reposted Brown’s tweet, framing it as a call for violence: “Professor at Georgetown University @Georgetown says he hopes Iran strikes a US base.” The reposting spurred a public media campaign against Brown, including threats of violence and death against Brown and his family. At least one elected official demanded the university fire him.
On June 26, David Edelstein, the College of Arts and Science’s interim dean, notified Brown that the university would not offer him a previously expected reappointment as department chair. (He retained his faculty position.) When questioned on the matter at a previously scheduled July 15th hearing of the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Georgetown’s interim president Robert Groves stated that the university had issued a statement condemning the tweet, removed Brown as department chair, placed him on leave, and begun an internal review.
Scholars at Risk is concerned about the demotion and suspension of a professor in response to pressure from elected officials and the media and in retaliation for publicly stated views. University authorities have an obligation to refrain from retaliatory actions that punish, restrict, or chill extramural speech and the exercise of 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.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/academic-freedom/2025/07/18/republicans-denounce-georgetown-professor-post-iran
https://www.foxnews.com/media/georgetown-professor-removed-department-chair-after-publicly-hoping-symbolic-iranian-strike-us
https://mesana.org/advocacy/committee-on-academic-freedom/2025/07/21/letter-to-georgetown-university-protesting-its-statements-and-actions-with-regard-to-professor-jonathan-brown