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I spent decades at Columbia. I’m withdrawing my fall course due to its deal with Trump

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Written by Rashid Khalidi Rashid Khalidi
Published: 01 August 2025 01 August 2025

The university’s draconian policies and new definition of antisemitism make much teaching impossible

Dear Acting President Shipman,

I am writing you an open letter since you have seen fit to communicate the recent decisions of the board of trustees and the administration in a similar fashion. 

These decisions, taken in close collaboration with the Trump administration, have made it impossible for me to teach modern Middle East history, the field of my scholarship and teaching for more than 50 years, 23 of them at Columbia. Although I have retired, I was scheduled to teach a large lecture course on this topic in the fall as a “special lecturer”, but I cannot do so under the conditions Columbia has accepted by capitulating to the Trump administration in June.

Read the full letter at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/01/columbia-historian-rashid-khalidi-open-letter

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