Last fall, a petition started by Muhlenberg alumni called for the removal of Maura Finkelstein, Ph.D., associate professor of anthropology. The petition featured screenshots of Finkelstein’s social media posts regarding Israel-Palestine and claimed that Finkelstein was fostering classroom bias and making Jewish students uncomfortable. For this article, we will be using “Israel-Palestine” as the terminology to discuss what is happening in the Middle East. This petition and Finkelstein’s stance on Israel-Palestine was a controversial topic on campus. In January of this year, students taking her class were informed by Provost Laura Furge, Ph.D. that Finkelstein would be on leave for the remainder of the spring semester. The email provided no explanation or communication as to why or for how long. Since then, the College has not commented on her case.
Coming into the new academic year, there was still no communication as to why Finkelstein was placed on leave.
On Sept. 24, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) sent a letter to the College regarding Finkelstein’s termination. The AAUP states that in late May 2024 Finkelstein was informed that the College intended to terminate her for cause, because her Instagram post allegedly “met the standard for online discrimination and harassment involving hateful speech. It was severe and objectively offensive, and it denies or limits the ability to participate in the College’s programs.” The AAUP also stated that the College rejected Finkelstein’s request to appeal her dismissal. On Sept. 26, the Committee on Academic Freedom and the Middle Eastern Students Association of Northern America, sent a letter to Muhlenberg’s president and provost expressing concerns over the College’s intentions to terminate Finkelstein. On the same day, The Intercept reported that Finkelstein was “the first tenured professor to be fired for pro-Palestine speech.”
When asked to confirm her termination, the College has refused to comment.
On Sept. 30, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), published a letter to President Kathleen Harring, Ph.D. This letter informed the College of the OCR’s findings regarding the Finkelstein investigation last year. This provided the public with the first detailed information about these complaints. The OCR revealed a Title IV complaint and then 25 separate incidents reported to the College.
The OCR letter stated, “Student 1 filed a complaint alleging that the Professor’s classroom teaching was ‘anti-Zionist’ and ‘biased.’ The student reported that, ‘As a Zionist and American Jew planning to move to Israel and become a citizen, I felt beyond uncomfortable and was too anxious to even go to class… [My friend] said that [the Professor] claims that what Hamas is doing is wrong, but we need to look at the context of the past oppression of the Palestinian people in Israel.’”
“Student 1 reiterated that the Professor was using her classroom as a political platform for spreading personal bias since October 7, and that it had become ‘the most uncomfortable classroom environment I have ever stepped foot in,’” the letter continued.
It’s noted in the OCR letter that once this concern was brought to Finkelstein, she stated she would not speak about this topic in the classroom going forward. The letter goes on to say, “In response, the Director [of Institutional Equity, Compliance and Title IX, Jennifer Storm] and Provost [Furge] met again with [Finkelstein], who, according to the College, reiterated that she had not discussed the conflict in class since their last meeting, and would not bring it up again.’” The OCR only included titles and The Weekly has added names for clarity. Following this, Student 1 emailed Storm confirming that Finkelstein “has not brought her views into class this week which has helped me feel more safe.” Storm then followed up again with Student 1 to provide an update, and in response, Student 1 asked to withdraw their formal complaint.
Regarding this report, the College informed the OCR that Storm concluded that Finkelstein did not violate Title VI or the Equal Opportunity and Nondiscrimination Policy (EO). Storm found that the complaint was not “sufficiently severe, pervasive or offensive to deprive the student of an educational opportunity and the conduct implicated academic freedom issues.” The College claims that this complaint was resolved informally through a discussion with Finkelstein.
Remaining complaints centered around Finkelstein’s social media’s posts. Storm determined that these reports were not in violation of Title VI or EO policy. The OCR letter reports that, “It was determined that this is [Finkelstein’s] personal social media account, she does not represent herself in any way as holding these opinions on behalf of the College and therefore is not a violation of the EO Policy.”
Title VI is in charge of investigating complaints and reports of discrimination, including harassment, based on shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, which includes antisemitism. However, Storm stated that using the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance guidance, Finkelstein’s X (Twitter) post stating that “Israel does not have a right to defend its occupation” does not fall under speech that is considered antisemitic.
While The Intercept has reported that Muhlenberg terminated Finkelstein, the College has not made a formal announcement to the campus community. Her office still has her nameplate, her name is still on the faculty directory and her email bounces back an out-of-office message. This begs the question: was Finkelstein terminated? And if she was, was she terminated due to her Instagram posts? The College refuses to comment and the public documents available to The Weekly tell a confusing story–the OCR letter found that there was no policy violation regarding her social media posts. Regardless, Finkelstein’s case has left a question mark in terms of the bounds of academic freedom at Muhlenberg, and what this means for professors going forward. Due to the College’s lack of transparency, many are left wondering what Finkelstein’s supposed termination means for future Israel-Palestine and difficult social and political discussions in and outside of the classroom.
The Weekly will be continuing this story, if you would like to add any comments or information, contact @weeklyeditor@gmail.com.
Shinam ‘25 is a political science and sociology major at Muhlenberg. She is immensely excited to be apart of the Weekly staff! When she isn’t writing, she can be found reading a book or watching a comfort show with her favorite fast food!
Thanks for reporting on this — please keep it up!
Kind of insane that this story, which has been picked up by national and international media outlets, has not one comment? After all the hate from alumni surrounding this professor, and nothing?