Letter to the University of Kentucky regarding the suspension of Professor Ramsi Woodcock for his statements about Palestine

Eli Capilouto

President, University of Kentucky

 

James C. Duff

Dean, J. David Rosenberg College of Law

University of Kentucky

 

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.

 

The opinions Professor Woodcock has expressed about Palestine fall squarely within the bounds of the University of Kentucky’s policy on academic freedom, which not only permits but encourages investigation and debate. Moreover, as a legal scholar Professor Woodcock’s statements on Palestine manifest a commitment to questioning conventionally held premises through political and social debate, using the means commonly deployed by legal academics, including conference presentations and scholarly listservs.

 

In these fraught times, college and university leaders have a heightened responsibility to protect the freedom of speech and academic freedom of all members of their communities. As MESA’s Board of Directors put it in a statement dated 16 October 2023: “We call on university leaders and administrations to affirmatively assert and protect the right to academic freedom and freedom of speech on their campuses…. We reaffirm that there can be no compromise of the right and ability of students, faculty, and staff at universities across North America (and elsewhere) to express their viewpoints free of harassment, intimidation, and threats to their livelihoods and safety.”

 

We therefore call on the University of Kentucky to immediately reinstate Professor Woodcock and to terminate all disciplinary investigations or procedures under way against him. We further call on the University of Kentucky to publicly state its support for Professor Woodcock’s right to express his opinions on matters of public concern. Finally, we urge your administration to forcefully reaffirm its commitment to respect and defend the academic freedom and free speech rights of all members of the University of Kentucky community.

 

We look forward to your response.

 

Sincerely,

 

Aslı Ü. Bâli 

MESA President

Professor, Yale Law School

 

Laurie A. Brand
Chair, Committee on Academic Freedom
Professor Emerita, University of Southern California

 

Cc:

 

William Thro

General Counsel,

University of Kentucky

 

Farida Shaheed

United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education