Governor Hochul Avoids Protestors And Cancels CCNY Visit

HAMILTON HEIGHTS,  February 27

Protesters gathered on the corner of 140th and Convent Avenue outside The City College of New York (CCNY) in response to New York Governor Kathy Hocul’s scheduled visit to the college. They objected to her decision to cancel a job listing for an instructor for Palestinian studies at Hunter College. Hochul abruptly cancelled her appearance at CCNY, apparently when word of the protestors reached her. She had planned to participate in a ceremony for a workforce initiative program.

Hunter College launched a search in February in response to student interest in Palestinian studies. The job listing said that the college sought “a historically grounded scholar who takes a critical lens to issues pertaining to Palestine including but not limited to: settler colonialism, genocide, human rights, apartheid, migration, climate and infrastructure devastation, health, race, gender and sexuality.” Governor Hochul directed Hunter College to cancel the posting after The New York Post  ran a story headlined, “CUNY’s taxpayer-funded Hunter College promotes hateful ‘Palestine’ instruction targeting Jews, activists fume.”    

In a joint statement on February 25th, CUNY Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez and Board of Trustees Chairman William C. Thompson Jr. agreed with Hochul’s evaluation that the listing was antisemitic. In a statement they said, “We find this language divisive, polarizing and inappropriate and strongly agree with Governor Hochul’s direction to remove this posting.”

In a February 26th statement, the American Jewish Committee praised Governor Hochul’s intervention, calling the listing a “divisive, one-sided narrative that would have been replete with falsehoods about Israel.”

Many students and faculty believe that Hochul’s interference in the search and Hunter College’s curriculum was an infringement on their rights as students and citizens. PSC CUNY union president James Davis stood on the side of the protestors against the administration. In an open letter, he urged the governor and chancellor to respect college governance independent of the State of New York. “An elected official dictating what topics may be taught at a public college is a line that should not be crossed,” he wrote. 

A joint statement by the Palestine Solidarity Alliance of Hunter College, CUNY Graduate Students for Palestine, and the CCNY and CUNY Law chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine called Hochul’s order a “blatant attack on academic freedom.” They said in a statement, “By censoring this job listing, CUNY has betrayed its commitment to its students and faculty.”

The protest at CCNY began with a call on Instagram by a group called CUNY4 Palestine. They asked demonstrators to appear at 2:45 p.m. The CCNY Department of Public Safety had emailed the campus community at 11:29 a.m. to say that access to the campus would be restricted to students, faculty, and guests attending pre-approved events through the gates on 135th and 140th and Convent Avenue. 

Officers from the college quickly sealed off Convent Avenue, putting up portable fencing. But protestors assembled and stood at the edge of the campus. Maleek Williams, a CCNY psychology and Black studies major, said, “Hochul does advocate for CUNY, but in that same breath she also very avidly made sure that CUNY was reprimanded for having Palestinian studies. And that’s something that I don’t agree with.” 

Michael Loeb, a Brooklyn College adjunct, joined the protest. He said he wanted to tell “Governor Hochul that the only way we can learn truths from our history is if we learn our true history, and that means including all subjects, including the study of Palestine.” 

Campus security stopped Loeb when he tried to enter the campus. Typically, the college is open to all CUNY staff and faculty with ID. “I do think that this policy was in place to suppress student protests and limit the number of people allowed on campus,” Loeb said. Two people were arrested, according to a CCNY public safety officer who asked not to be identified.

People gather on the sidewalk in front of the 23rd Precinct to show their support and to wait for the release of protestors.

Later, people gathered outside of the 23rd Precinct, where police took protestors who were detained. Kylian, an activist who declined to provide their last name fearing reprisal, criticized the arrests. “By weaponizing our futures and our history and our people, they’re trying to spin the narrative,” they said. Kylian said they were arrested as a part of the large-scale sweep of the CUNY Gaza Solidarity Encampment on April 30, 2024. They said their arrest and activism led them to lose their job and they eventually became homeless. “This is the reality of the demonization and villianization of people who don’t want to be complicit in genocide and who refuse to have blood on their hands,” Kylian said.