Wake Forest University's decision to cancel Palestinian scholar's lecture on Oct. 7 gains national attention

Wake Forest University's decision to cancel a campus lecture led by a Palestinian scholar and activist has gained national attention.

Rabab Abdulhadi, a professor and founding director of the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Studies Program at San Francisco State University, was scheduled to speak at Wake Forest on Oct. 7, reflecting on one year of the Israel-Hamas war. 

Last week, Wake Forest University President Susan Wente and Provost Michele Gillespie canceled the lecture, and said the school would not host events deemed “inherently contentious.”

The decision garnered criticism from some students, faculty, and on Monday, the Middle East Studies Association, a nonprofit made up of scholars across the world. The group published a letter urging the university to reverse its decision, stating that the cancellation betrays the institution’s commitment to academic freedom.

"Whether or not everyone at Wake Forest agrees with Professor Abdulhadi’s opinions regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, silencing her cannot be acceptable at an institution which claims to uphold academic freedom and freedom of speech," the letter states. "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 – and their invited guests."

The letter was signed by MESA President and Yale Law School professor Aslı Ü. Bâli, and Laurie Brand, the chair of MESA's Committee on Academic Freedom and Professor Emerita at the University of Southern California. 

WFDD requested comment from Wake Forest University on the matter and was provided an email Provost Gillespie sent to faculty members on Tuesday. In it, she called the cancellation an “exceedingly difficult” decision.

"The University supports the freedom of faculty to use their professional judgment to invite speakers to give talks for pedagogical and scholarly purposes, and without formal review processes," Gillespie said. "However, in this specific instance, inviting a scholar to give a lecture titled “One Year since al-Aqsa Flood: How do We Review a Year of Genocide and Resistance?” on the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel led to a series of cascading events that eroded the University’s confidence in ensuring security in the rapidly-evolving environment surrounding the public event date."

Additionally, she said the university plans to release a draft of a statement about free expression and academic freedom in the next few weeks. 

Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.