UC Berkeley professor warns of 'unprecedented crackdown' on academic freedom

In an interview with NPR’s Leila Fadel, Professor Ussama Makdisi discussed academic freedom, censorship and campus climate.

By Leila Fadel, Morning Edition

The University of California, Berkeley, is facing backlash after disclosing the names of 160 students, faculty, and staff to Trump administration officials as part of a federal investigation into allegations of antisemitism on campus.

The university sent the documents over several months and notified those named earlier this month. Among them is Ussama Makdisi, a history professor and leading scholar of modern Arab history.

“The idea is obviously, clearly a chilling of speech and a chilling of academic freedom because we have no idea what we have allegedly been accused of. We have no idea how to even go about clearing our name,” Makdisi said.

In a statement to NPR, University of California, Berkeley, spokesperson Janet Gilmore confirmed that records of complaints about “alleged incidents of antisemitism and discrimination” were provided to the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Education.

The disclosure comes as the federal government continues its campaign to investigate elite universities, launched after campus protests over Israel’s war in Gaza. Critics say the investigations are weaponizing the charge of antisemitism to stifle academic freedoms.

On Tuesday, a U.N. commission said it found that Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, a charge Israel has denied.

In an interview with NPR’s Leila Fadel, Makdisi discussed academic freedom, censorship and campus climate.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.