Robin D. G. Kelley, Substack
Most academics in the U.S., as well as activists resisting the genocide in Gaza, are familiar with the case of Professor Tiffany Willoughby-Herard, a renowned Global Studies scholar at the University of California, Irvine. On May 15, 2024, Nakba Day, she put her body on the line to protect students from riot police who had stormed their Palestine solidarity encampment. The UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman called the police on campus to dismantle the encampment. Three cops pushed Tiffany onto the concrete, causing her serious physical injury and emotional harm. She was arrested and charged with resisting arrest and held for about 24 hours in a county detention facility. Seeing that there really was no case here, the Orange County District Attorney ultimately dropped all criminal charges against Professor Willoughby-Herard and sealed her arrest.
Nevertheless, she was subjected to vicious public attacks by the group Accuracy in Media, which formed a fake organization called UC Irvine Hates Jews. She endured rape and death threats, doxxing, and a billboard truck driving around campus displaying her picture alongside a caption labeling her one of “UC-Irvine’s Leading Antisemites.” The university administration not only allowed the billboard truck free rein but did nothing to protect Professor Willoughby-Herard, one of its most distinguished faculty members. Instead, the university brought her up on charges of violating the faculty code of conduct.
What does that mean? A committee appointed by UCI’s academic senate had to decide if Professor Willoughby-Herard had, among other things, intentionally disrupted university authorized functions or activities, incited others to disobey university rules, forcibly detained or threatened to physically harm another member of the university community, or engaged in abusive and/or unethical conduct. The charges were ridiculous. Still, they handed down a split decision: two members of the three-person committee found her guilty of some charges and recommended a one quarter unpaid suspension and the inclusion of a letter of censure in her file that would be removed after five years. The other committee member voted against any sanction. During her suspension, she would retain all of her rights and privileges as a senate faculty member and continue to meet with her graduate students.
For Chancellor Gillman, however, the punishment was not enough. He unilaterally overrode the committee’s recommendations, denying Professor Willoughby-Herard access to campus, including the library, and stripping her of her faculty voting rights, her right to supervise graduate students, and all of her healthcare benefits. Consider what this means for someone who is not only recovering from serious, life-altering injuries caused by police violence but who also suffers from long-term chronic health issues. It is beyond cruel; it is vindictive. And yet, it is not surprising for those of us who have worked with Chancellor Gillman. He is the face of the new University of California (well, maybe not-so-new….). He holds the vaunted position as Chancellor precisely because he has a track record of crushing dissent, adopting corporate-oriented policies, protecting the university’s bottom line at the expense of intellectual growth and “diversity.” In 2013, when Irvine recruited Gillman from USC (my former institution) to become Executive Vice-Chancellor, a large group of UCI faculty sought to block his appointment but did not prevail. His racist, sexist, and politically motivated treatment of Professor Willoughby-Herard is consistent with past behavior and in lockstep with the University of California’s attack on dissent and free speech. Ironically, Gillman’s latest book is Campus Speech and Academic Freedom: A Guide for Difficult Times, co-authored with Erwin Chemerinsky, published this year by Yale University Press (an updated version of their Free Speech on Campus [2017]).
A committee of concerned faculty circulated a petition, which has more than 5,000 signatures, demanding that the university immediately drop all disciplinary sanctions against Professor Willoughby-Herard. You can sign that petition here. And while you’re at it, consider writing Chancellor Gillman at chancellor@uci.edu demanding that he drop the charges. If you do write him, please bcc: tiffanysolidaritycommittee@gmail.com
It is important to document these letters, not because we believe they will persuade him to suddenly become an ethical and just administrator, but rather to ramp up mass political pressure on UCI and the University of California system as a whole. He needs to be removed. Above all, we want all sanctions against our colleague lifted and all back salary paid immediately.
Finally, Professor Willoughby-Herard is facing a dire financial situation. Currently, she will have no income until the end of the calendar year, she has no medical insurance, and her legal fees are insurmountable. She needs help now! You can help provide much needed financial support by donating here
You can also help by spreading the word, especially to those outside the bubble of academia. These people are coming for all of us, not just academics and activists. And they don’t all look like Trump and Stephen Miller. Sometimes they come in the guise of free speech champions and liberal constitutional scholars.