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In an April 13, 2024 email to the Hobart and William Smith Colleges community, President Mark Gearan announced HWS had suspended Professor Jodi Dean from teaching duties in response to her April 9 blog post expressing support for the Palestinian resistance against Israel. Gearan criticized Dean’s statement about feeling “exhilarated and energized by the paragliders on October 7,” stating “we can never and will never condone or praise violence.” FIREwrote HWS on April 30, explaining that the colleges’ commitment to academic freedom protects professors’ right to speak as private citizens on public issues, even when their expression offends others. We called on HWS to promptly reinstate Dean’s teaching duties. 

On July 11, HWS cleared Dean and allowed her to return to the classroom.