BUZZ
Key Takeaways
- San José State Professor Sang Hea Kil has been reinstated after an arbitrator deemed her termination for pro-Palestinian protests excessive, opting for a one-month unpaid suspension instead.
- The California Faculty Association represented Kil for nearly two years in her appeal against the university’s decision, emphasizing her commitment to academic freedom and student advocacy.
- Kil's firing was rooted in incidents where she disrupted a faculty lecture and provided incorrect advice to students, actions deemed in violation of university policies during protests in 2024.
San José State Professor Sang Hea Kil, who was fired last year for her participation in pro-Palestinian student protests, will return to work after an arbitrator ruled the termination was excessive.
The arbitrator decided a one-month unpaid suspension was an appropriate penalty instead of termination, California Faculty Association President Margarita Berta-Ávila announced in a news release Monday.
The arbitrator still sanctioned Kil because she disrupted another faculty member’s lecture, which she disagreed with, and gave students incorrect advice about a rule she should have known.
Berta-Ávila stated CFA has represented the professor for almost two years, “appealing to the [Faculty Hearing Committee], and representing her in arbitration after the SJSU President rejected the FHC’s decision.”
“Dr. Kil has been a staunch advocate for her students’ fight against the genocide in Gaza. She has fiercely defended her students’ right to speak freely on these issues and has herself been critical of right-wing interests interfering with constitutional rights and academic freedom across the nation,” the CFA president stated.
The arbitrator’s ruling aligns with the FHC’s decision in November 2025, which also found that Kil’s termination was not justified.
“Incredibly, the SJSU President disagreed, requiring Dr. Kil and CFA to go to arbitration to challenge the interference of academic freedom and free speech and to challenge the lack of ‘just cause,’” Berta-Ávila stated.
The school fired the professor after she violated SJSU and California State University policies during “a February 2024 protest that shut down a Jewish studies professor’s guest lecture, a May 2024 rally and a May 2024 encampment on campus,” the Jewish News of Northern California reported.
Professor Kil was the first tenured faculty member at a public university to lose her position due to pro-Palestinian advocacy, according to the American Association of University Professors.
Another pro-Palestinian professor, Shirin Saeidi, was terminated in December 2025 for anti-Israel social media posts, including content praising Iran’s Supreme Leader and calling for the destruction of Israel, The College Fix previously reported.
University of Arkansas System President Jay Silveria overruled a unanimous faculty committee recommendation to reinstate her. He cited concerns that the university could lose federal funding under Title VI if it failed to adequately address antisemitism.
Saeidi appealed her firing, but the University of Arkansas System Board of Trustees upheld the decision in May, according to the Arkansas Advocate.
MORE: Journal retracts paper skeptical of ‘white power’ in psychology, says it conflicts with ‘values’
