Maura Finkelstein, an anthropology professor at Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania, was an active social media user. She referred to a fundraiser for the Israeli war effort as “students raising money for genocide” and often concluded her posts with “Free Palestine.”

Following complaints, federal civil rights investigators and the college began to examine her online statements and classroom discussions regarding the Gaza conflict.

However, it was her sharing of an Instagram post from Palestinian American poet Remi Kanazi that led to her termination. The post stated, “Do not cower to Zionists,” and advised against normalizing their presence.

One student reported feeling unsafe as a Zionist and a Jew, expressing that she would be uncomfortable in Dr. Finkelstein’s classes.

As protests erupted across numerous college campuses last spring, both students and faculty faced repercussions for their involvement. Faculty members were disciplined for either supporting students in their protests or for expressing views deemed antisemitic, or less frequently, for pro-Israel positions.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has amplified concerns among faculty and their supporters about what they see as a growing threat to academic freedom—a principle highly valued in American higher education.

Non-tenured scholars, such as visiting professors and adjuncts, have had their contracts terminated or not renewed, with some classes abruptly canceled. Faculty members report facing public criticism that has damaged their reputations and impacted their careers.

The situation has affected faculty at over a dozen major universities, according to unofficial records maintained by faculty union activists.

Disciplinary actions against scholars have surged, reaching 145 in 2022, compared to just four annually in 2000, as the educational landscape has become increasingly polarized, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which tracks free speech violations.

“There’s a chill in the air,” noted Peter Lake, a law professor and director of the Center for Excellence in Higher Education Law and Policy at Stetson University.

These disciplinary actions align with a movement aimed at ensuring student safety on campuses. Recently, many Jewish students have expressed that protests and classroom discussions regarding the war have threatened their sense of security, making them hesitant to voice their opinions or disclose their Jewish identities.

While academic freedom is a fundamental principle, it is not absolute. It does not protect the promotion of misleading ideas in teaching or research, as stated by Nadine Strossen, a former president of the American Civil Liberties Union. Furthermore, it does not exempt faculty from following laws or campus policies designed to ensure that protests, regardless of viewpoint, do not disrupt educational activities.

Nonetheless, academics generally possess the First Amendment right to express opinions and engage in discourse beyond their areas of expertise outside of the classroom, including on social media.

However, this is where many faculty members find themselves in trouble, according to Ms. Strossen.

Professors have faced criticism for allegedly creating hostile classroom environments and suppressing the voices of students who may disagree with them, effectively acting as activists rather than educators. Some argue that faculty members are expressing views that could necessitate university intervention to protect students from discrimination.

Much of the pressure to impose restrictions on faculty has come from external sources, including alumni, lawmakers, advocacy groups, and donors.

“Those external voices are something that any president who wants to keep their job must consider,” remarked Alison Byerly, president of Carleton College in Minnesota.

In congressional hearings regarding antisemitism on campuses last school year, several professors were targeted by Republicans, who urged universities to discipline or dismiss them over comments they deemed hateful.

During testimony from Columbia’s president, Nemat Shafik, Representative Elise Stefanik of New York highlighted Mohamed Abdou, an assistant visiting professor. She referenced a Facebook post of his that supported Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad shortly after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

“What are the consequences in this case?” she asked.

“He will never work at Columbia again,” Dr. Shafik replied.

Dr. Abdou’s contract was not renewed, and he is currently suing Dr. Shafik and the university for defamation and infringement of academic freedom, among other claims. He contends that he was quoted out of context, as his full statement indicated his support for Hamas and its allies “up to a point—given ultimate differences over our ethical political commitments.”

By condemning him, Dr. Shafik “blacklisted me globally and tarnished my scholarship,” he stated in an interview.

(Dr. Shafik resigned over the summer after losing support from many faculty members, who criticized her in a no-confidence vote for disregarding “our statutes and our norms of academic freedom and shared governance.”)

Columbia declined to comment on Dr. Abdou’s case due to ongoing litigation.

The university recently prohibited a vocal pro-Israel assistant professor in its business school, Shai Davidai, claiming he had harassed and intimidated university staff. The professor asserts that the university has not done enough to curb pro-Palestinian activism that he argues crosses into antisemitism.

Dr. Finkelstein contends that if there was any antisemitism involved in her case, it stemmed from Muhlenberg College, not her.

“Once the administration called me into meetings, I realized that I had believed being Jewish would protect me, and it didn’t,” Dr. Finkelstein recounted. “I was told there are good Jews and bad Jews, Jews that count and Jews that don’t, which is inherently antisemitic.”

She was dismissed on May 30 and is currently appealing the decision.

In a separate investigation, the Education Department’s civil rights division reached a settlement with Muhlenberg in September to address complaints that Dr. Finkelstein had fostered a hostile environment for Jewish individuals—contrary to civil rights law—and that the college had failed to implement sufficient corrective measures. Todd Lineburger, a college spokesperson, stated that Muhlenberg is “steadfastly devoted to principles of academic freedom, tenure, and due process.”

Dr. Finkelstein, who served as chair of sociology and anthropology, is the only tenured professor known to have been dismissed due to speech or conduct related to the Gaza conflict, according to Anita Levy, senior program officer for academic freedom at the American Association of University Professors, which plans to investigate her case.

The faculty most vulnerable to such actions are those without tenure.

At the University of California, Los Angeles, another focal point during last spring’s protests, multiple faculty members—including two tenured professors, two on the tenure track, eight lecturers, and one adjunct—faced criminal charges and internal disciplinary actions for their involvement in campus protests, according to faculty involved.

Graeme Blair, an associate professor of political science arrested at the U.C.L.A. protest site, believes he lost a promotion to full professor for supporting students during a violent police confrontation.

“I think they are trying to send a message,” Dr. Blair commented.

U.C.L.A. stated that it supports academic freedom but could not provide comments on individual conduct cases.

A smaller number of incidents have involved pro-Israel faculty.

However, the pressure to regulate faculty speech highlights the enduring influence of the tenure system.

Raz Segal, an associate professor of Holocaust and genocide studies, believes he lost a job opportunity to lead a Holocaust and genocide center at the University of Minnesota due to lobbying against him by a pro-Israel group for describing Israel’s actions in the war as “a textbook case of genocide.”

Dr. Segal remains tenured at Stockton University, a public institution in southern New Jersey.

Annelise Orleck, a history professor at Dartmouth, was arrested while recording a student protest on her phone and was subsequently banned from key areas of campus, including the president’s residence.

For weeks, she navigated through backyards to reach her classes, avoiding the block where the president’s house is located. While the charges have since been dropped and the ban lifted, she still steers clear of the Green, where she was detained.

Justin Anderson, a spokesperson for Dartmouth, affirmed that the university is committed to academic freedom.

Dr. Orleck expressed that she feels fortunate compared to some of her colleagues. “I sense that many of my colleagues this fall are caught in a new wave of repression, while I have not yet experienced that,” she remarked.