ImpACT International Expresses Serious Concern at Suppression of Academic Freedoms at NYUAD
04 June 2024 | ImpACT International
ImpACT International expresses concern at a lack of protection against the suppression of physical and academic freedom for students and faculty at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD). The University must do more to allow for students, staffs and faculty free expression, without fear of institutional and state retribution.
A press release from the American Association of University Professors, shared by NYU Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine, accuses NYUAD of overseeing an “academic year … marred by unprecedented repression”, actively preventing students and faculty from expressing solidarity with Palestine. The release details a number of complaints from students and staff against the University in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Titled: “NYU Leadership Fails to Protect Speech and Academic Freedom from Extreme Repression at NYU’s Abu Dhabi Campus”, the release details instances of “extreme sanctions” and “political repression” by the University on it’s students and staff. It includes “restricting actions such as organising pro-Palestine vigils and teach-ins, hanging banners, posting social media”, with students subjected to disciplinary action. Among staff, “efforts to hold a faculty vote around leadership’s handling of the students protesting in New York, as several NYU schools have done”, were “met with obstruction and threats” with the “Provost calling into question the legitimacy of elected faculty representatives…”