Hi there,

Democracy Now! marks 29 years of fearless independent journalism this month. Presidents have come, gone and come back again, but Democracy Now! remains, playing the same critical role in our democracy: shining a spotlight on corporate and government abuses of power and raising up the voices of scholars, advocates, scientists, activists, artists and ordinary people working for a more peaceful and just world. Thanks to a group of generous donors, all donations made today will be DOUBLED, which means your $15 gift is worth $30. If our journalism is important to you, please donate today in honor of our 29th anniversary. Every dollar makes a difference. Thank you so much.

Democracy Now!

Amy Goodman

Non-commercial news needs your support.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

Please do your part today.

Donate

Longtime Columbia Law Professor Terminated After Defending Student Gaza Protests, Free Speech

HeadlineJan 13, 2025

A Columbia Law School professor who vocally defended students after they faced persecution from Columbia for protesting in support of Palestinian rights says she was terminated after 25 years in her job. Katherine Franke accused Columbia’s administration of creating a “toxic and hostile” environment for debate and of failing to protect its students and faculty. Columbia was at the center of a firestorm around campus protests for Gaza last year after it violently cracked down on student demonstrations, calling in the NYPD to dismantle a peaceful encampment.

Former Columbia President Minouche Shafik, who last year also gave a disastrous congressional testimony on Capitol Hill, ultimately resigned. U.N. special rapporteur Francesca Albanese decried Franke’s termination, saying she was “yet another victim of the pro-Israelism that is turning universities, and other spaces of public life, into places of obscurantism, discrimination and oppression.” Click here to see our interviews with Katherine Franke about this case and more.

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top