Protesting the Suspension of a Scholar at the University of Kentucky for Statements on Palestine

Eli Capilouto

President, University of Kentucky

elic@uky.edu

 

James C. Duff

Dean, J. David Rosenberg College of Law

University of Kentucky

jim.duff@uky.edu

 

Dear President Capiluoto and Dean Duff:

 

We write on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom to express our grave concern about the University of Kentucky’s summary suspension of Ramsi Woodcock, Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs Professor of Law, pending an investigation of statements he has made regarding Palestine. Your administration’s action violates Professor Woodcock’s academic freedom and his freedom of speech, and we are also concerned that it may serve as a test case that legitimizes disciplinary action against faculty elsewhere because some people find their opinions objectionable.

 

MESA was founded in 1966 to promote scholarship and teaching on the Middle East and North Africa. The preeminent organization in the field, the Association publishes the prestigious International Journal of Middle East Studies and has nearly 2,800 members worldwide. MESA is committed to ensuring academic freedom and freedom of expression both within the region and in connection with the study of the region in North America and outside of North America.

 

On 18 July 2025, Dean Duff notified Professor Woodcock that he had been suspended from his teaching and service duties and was banned from the law school building, pending the results of an investigation launched by the university’s Office of the General Counsel. General Counsel William Thro notified Professor Woodcock that he was under investigation for statements about Palestine that he made in blog posts, conference presentations and postings on listservs of the American Association of Law Schools; he was also accused of improperly using university resources to circulate a petition calling for international military intervention to stop Israel’s genocide in Gaza. In his letter to Professor Woodcock, Mr. Thro asserted that Professor Woodcock’s extramural speech with regard to Palestine “may create a hostile environment for Jewish members of the university community or otherwise constitute harassment as defined by the Supreme Court.”  On 22 July 2025 the university provided further details concerning Professor Woodcock’s alleged violations and added new allegations. He now stands accused of violating the university’s Ethical Principles and Employee Code of Conduct, its Institutional Statements Policy, its Use of Technology Resources Policy and its Policy on Discrimination and Harassment, which incorporates the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism as potentially including criticism of the State of Israel.

 

It is clear that Professor Woodcock’s statements are protected by the First Amendment and the principles of academic freedom; it is equally clear that criticism of Israel or of Zionism as a political ideology must not be conflated with antisemitism. Such statements are also protected by the university’s own robust academic freedom policies: the university’s faculty handbook states that

faculty members and students are permitted and encouraged to investigate any theory, challenge any premise, engage in political and social debate, and express dissent. Their academic careers are not jeopardized by such activities unless the behaviors violate laws or University regulations, interfere with the normal operation of the education, research, and service programs of the University, interfere with the rights of others, or create situations which result in conflict-of-interest by the faculty member.