Gregory L. Fenves
President, Emory University
president@emory.edu
Dear President Fenves:
We write on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom to express our deep concern about the one-year suspension of Umaymah Mohammad, a dual MD/PhD student, from the Emory University School of Medicine (ESM) on the basis of a statement that she made during a media interview that was deemed to have violated the medical school’s student code of conduct. Ms. Mohammad was subjected to an egregiously unfair and opaque disciplinary process by ESM, and her suspension is a violation of her academic freedom and her right to free speech as well as of your university’s own Respect for Open Expression Policy. Her case is also indicative of a troubling pattern whereby members of the Emory community of Palestinian descent have been singled out and punished for exercising their right to free expression on matters relating to current events in the Middle East.
Founded in 1966, MESA promotes scholarship and teaching on the Middle East and North Africa. As the preeminent organization in the field, the Association publishes the prestigious International Journal of Middle East Studies and has nearly 2,800 members worldwide. Our organization 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.
Ms. Mohammad’s suspension stemmed from an opinion she expressed during an interview with the daily news program DemocracyNow! on 26 April 2024. Specifically, Ms. Mohammad asserted that:
one of the professors of medicine we have at Emory recently went to serve as a volunteer medic in the Israeli Offense Force and recently came back. This man participated in aiding and abetting a genocide, in aiding and abetting the destruction of the healthcare system in Gaza and the murder of over 400 healthcare workers, and is now back at Emory so-called teaching medical students and residents how to take care of patients. I mean, the disconnect is, for me, very obvious. And it’s very frustrating that the School of Medicine and the greater Emory community continues to ignore these major disconnects.”
Soon thereafter, Ms. Mohammad was informed that she had violated the medical school’s student code of conduct because she had allegedly failed to show professionalism, respect and honesty in that interview. She was also initially accused of the same violations on social media, though she had no social media accounts. The ensuing investigation, initiated by Executive Associate Dean J. William Eley, did not conform to commonly accepted procedures and standards: it was conducted by a single member of the medical school faculty and Ms. Mohammad was required to accept the findings of the investigation (i.e., admit guilt) before being properly informed about the basis of those findings. Though the charge of dishonesty was later dropped, her suspension, based on her alleged lack of professionalism and respect toward other members of the medical school community, may well make it impossible for her to continue her medical training, at Emory or elsewhere. It is also unclear whether Ms. Mohammad’s suspension and being barred from the medical school for a year will prevent her from completing her doctoral program in sociology.
We note that the Committee for Open Expression of the Emory University Senate (CFOE) conducted an investigation of the treatment of Ms. Mohammad and found that “[t]he content of Ms. Mohammad’s interview to Democracy Now! was protected under the [Emory Respect for Open Expression] Policy.” It further found that the “[School of Medicine] Administration violated the Respect for Open Expression Policy by proceeding with the Conduct Code sanctions against Ms. Mohammad and by refusing to engage with CFOE and the University Senate.” Although the CFOE recommended that the charges against Ms. Mohammad be dropped, ESM Dean Sandra Wong upheld Ms. Mohammad’s suspension upon appeal.
In issuing and upholding this suspension, the leaders of ESM have persisted in a pattern of discriminatory behavior towards students and faculty who have expressed opinions about contemporary developments in Israel, Palestine and the wider Middle East. This pattern goes back at least to November 2023 with the firing of Dr. Abeer N. AbouYabis, an assistant professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, on the basis of statements she had posted to her personal Facebook account the previous month. Dr. AbouYabis has subsequently been subjected to relentless and vicious online attacks and has been unable to practice medicine professionally. The Emory CFOE investigated her case as well and concluded that Emory had violated her rights under the university’s Respect for Open Expression Policy.
We call your attention to the statement issued by the American Association of University Professors on October 24, 2023:
It is in tumultuous times that colleges’ and universities’ stated commitments to protect academic freedom are most put to the test. As the Israel-Hamas war rages and campus protests proliferate, institutional authorities must refrain from sanctioning faculty members for expressing politically controversial views and should instead defend their right, under principles of academic freedom, to do so.
We therefore call upon you to immediately rescind ESM’s decision to suspend Ms. Mohammad and to expunge the charges against her from her student record. We also call upon you to consistently respect and uphold the university’s Respect for Open Expression Policy, and to publicly and forcefully reaffirm Emory University’s commitment to defend the academic freedom and the freedom of speech of all members of the university community.
We look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Aslı Ü. Bâli
MESA President
Professor, Yale Law School
Laurie Brand
Chair, Committee on Academic Freedom
Professor Emerita, University of Southern California
Chair, Committee on Academic Freedom
Professor Emerita, University of Southern California
cc:
Lanny Liebeskind
Interim Provost, Emory University
provost@emory.edu
Sandra L. Wong
Dean, Emory School of Medicine
sandra.lynn.wong@emory.edu
J. William Eley
Executive Associate Dean for Medical Education and Student Affairs,
Emory School of Medicine
jeley@emory.edu
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