As a result, California State University, Sacramento has effectively terminated tenured justice studies professor Sang Hea Kil. This move follows accusations that she broke university rules while at pro-Palestinian demonstrations. The university alleges that Kil’s behavior violated “time, manner and place” restrictions meant to control protests on campus. Kil, a faculty mentor for the university’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, is still battling her dismissal through administrative channels. She intends to sue the university if they can’t come to a resolution through arbitration.
The whole controversy came to a head during a protest in February 2024. Tempers flared, and the situation erupted into a violent confrontation between the student protestors and a faculty member filming the ensuing chaos. Kil also made the protest part of her own personal time. Yet, according to the university, she pushed students to establish an encampment that violated university policy. Kil camped for half of the full, ten-day-long student-led encampment. Recent police raids on similar protests in other cities that have led to hundreds of arrests critiqued Kil’s participation.
An internal faculty committee found sufficient basis to warrant the allegations, but found the termination of Kil to be excessive. Though this finding ordered her to, university president Cynthia Teniente-Matson doubled down and defended the firing, arguing student’s safety and education were her main concerns.
Henry Reichman, a retired professor, defended Kil during a special public hearing on her dismissal. He was none too pleased with that judgment.
“You dismiss tenured professors for things like, the professor sexually assaulted a student, or the professor didn’t show up in class for five weeks in a row with no excuse,” – Henry Reichman
Reichman contended that the allegations against Kil do not inform, much less undermine, her fitness to serve at the prestigious university.
“None of this goes to her fitness to do the job for which she was hired,” – Henry Reichman
Kil said in her defense.
“A lot of my work is critical of policing, and I felt, because of what happened in New York and Los Angeles, obliged to camp with them,” – Sang Hea Kil
Kil’s case has drawn attention to broader issues of academic freedom and the rights of faculty to engage in political expression. She contends that her firing reflects a different kind of “New McCarthyism.” In her opinion, geopolitical interests are trampling on constitutional rights on campus.
“All faculty should be able to protest all genocides without targeted punitive actions,” – Sang Hea Kil
The university’s president defended the decision to uphold Kil’s dismissal, emphasizing the need to protect student safety and adherence to university policies.
“The education and physical safety of our students at serious risk,” – Cynthia Teniente-Matson
Matson further asserted that Kil acted with “intentional disregard for University policies, policies of which you were aware but that you committed to follow when taking up the position of advisor to a student organization.”
The case illustrates the current state of increased hostility between university administrations and faculty over punishment due to academic freedom and the right to protest. Our friend V Jesse Smith, an academic colleague of Kil’s, brought to our attention the more troubling implications of Kil’s dismissal.
“You can’t fire people for their beliefs and expression,” – V Jesse Smith
Despite how the situation unfolds, Kil has no plans to give up her battle against her dismissal. Her case encapsulates important discussions happening across academia about faculty free speech and institutional shared governance. Her appeal and any subsequent litigation has the potential to pave important new trails. These rulings could change how public universities navigate the politics behind their professors’ political speech.