As the Board of the International Consortium of Critical Theory Programs, we express our profound concern over and principled objection to the decision of UC Berkeley to hand over a list of 160 faculty members and students to the Trump administration as part of an investigation into “alleged antisemitic incidents.”
The International Consortium of Critical Theory Programs was established in 2016 through a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and seeks to document, connect, and foster new forms of critical theorizing across the globe. Two projects the ICCTP Board is currently actively involved in are devoted to studying and countering the global intensification of authoritarian and neo-fascist tendencies: “Emergencies of Authoritarianism” (funded by the German Volkswagen Foundation) and “A Counter-Imaginary in Authoritarian Times” (funded by the Mellon Foundation).
We are dismayed that the university decided to comply with what clearly seems like a politically motivated federal investigation in ways that violate the duty of care any institution of higher education must exercise towards its own members, both faculty and students, its obligation to respect and implement due process, and its commitment to academic freedom and the fundamental principles of a democratic society.
The unsubstantiated accusations of antisemitism underlying the investigation presumably draw on the IHRA working definition of antisemitism which both the UC system and the Trump administration have accepted. Many experts criticize this definition for conflating criticism of Israel and Zionism with antisemitism and for repressing legitimate speech and discriminating against individuals based on their political opinions. This instrumentalization of antisemitism stands in direct conflict with academic freedom and freedom of speech and assembly, serves to justify the repression of legitimate dissent, and undermines the struggle against actual antisemitism.
As scholars of critical theory committed to defending democracy and the rights of minorities, and concerned about the rise of the authoritarian, far right and neo-fascist forces across the world – with some of us having already experienced government censorship and repression in various authoritarian contexts –, we see the current situation in the United States as a litmus test and wish to underscore the special responsibility educational institutions bear at this time.
We strongly urge UC Berkeley to recognize its responsibility in these challenging circumstances and to reconsider its decision to comply with illegitimate political pressure in ways that undermine its independence, the academic freedom and fundamental rights of its members, and the public university’s crucial role in a democratic society.
We ask the Chancellor of UC Berkeley to affirm the university’s principled commitment to academic freedom, to withstand political pressure and financial threats from the government and act in solidarity with other universities to defend their independence and fair internal procedures, to uphold and protect the right of students and faculty to engage in legitimate protest and critical inquiry within the university, and to actively protect them from intimidation, harassment and attacks that threaten their safety and their basic rights.
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For more on the events at UC Berkeley:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/12/uc-berkeley-trump-administration-antisemitism
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/13/us/politics/trump-berkeley-antisemitism-investigation.html
For more on criticism of the IHRA definition of antisemitism:
https://www.rosalux.de/en/publication/id/41168/on-the-ihras-working-definition-of-antisemitism