Ideological Battle at Rutgers Highlights Leftist Bias in Higher Education
“I write today to reaffirm Rutgers University’s unwavering commitment to academic freedom and freedom of expression—values that define a great research university and underpin our mission of discovery, dialogue, and public engagement”
A battle is brewing at Rutgers University in New Jersey that puts a spotlight on the ideological divide in higher education.
To recap, the Turning Point USA chapter at the school launched a petition calling for the removal of professor Mark Bray, an ally of Antifa who wrote the ‘handbook’ on Antifa. Bray claimed that this made him the target of threats and fled the U.S. for Europe. Then progressives at Rutgers began calling for the removal of the Turning Point USA chapter at the school.
Now the school administration has been dragged into the fight and they are spinning it by claiming to be defenders of academic freedom.
FOX News reports:
Rutgers chancellor launches safety review, ‘academic freedom’ task force amid ‘Dr Antifa’ uproar
The chancellor of Rutgers University said the institution is committed to academic freedom and will be launching a safety review and “academic freedom” task force amid the ongoing controversy surrounding Antifa-aligned professor Mark Bray.
“I write today to reaffirm Rutgers University’s unwavering commitment to academic freedom and freedom of expression—values that define a great research university and underpin our mission of discovery, dialogue, and public engagement,” Rutgers Chancellor Francine Conway wrote in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.
“Incidents involving ‘doxing’ and harassment of faculty members understandably raise deep concerns across our community,” Conway wrote. “I want to express my support for any member of our community who has been targeted for their scholarship.”…
In her statement, Conway said she has directed Rutgers’ chief of police and chief information technology officer to review protocols for both physical and digital safety on campus…
“Free speech and academic freedom do not shield any of us from disagreement or critique,” Conway wrote. “At Rutgers, we encourage open and robust debate—even on the most controversial topics. Yet, the appropriate response to speech we oppose is more speech, not actions that seek to intimidate or threaten the personal safety of others.”
Megyn Doyle, a student and member of TPUSA, made her case during a recent appearance on Real America’s Voice:
STUDENTS PETITION FOR RUTGERS "ANTIFA" PROFESSOR TO BE FIRED: GETS TURNED ON STUDENTS
Rutgers and @TPUSA student explains why she began a petition against Mark Bray.@JackPosobiec pic.twitter.com/VyZKsgByJd— Real America's Voice (RAV) (@RealAmVoice) October 20, 2025
In this clip, another student named Ava Kwan claims that after she and other TPUSA members were doxxed, the university began investigating them:
.@avajkwan to @JackPosobiec on how the university is handling it after getting doxxed for petitioning against "Dr. Antifa":
"They are doing nothing. The only thing that they're doing is investigating our chapter." pic.twitter.com/dRA9wYjwnK
— Human Events (@HumanEvents) October 20, 2025
Like many other schools, Rutgers has seen a rise in antisemitic sentiment on campus since the October 7th attacks. Is anyone at the school investigating the student groups behind this?
Rutgers University NJ has been plastered with anti Israel propaganda calling to boycott the world’s only Jewish state.
You know who else boycotted Jews? The Nazis. pic.twitter.com/7Cro2FfAQa
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) October 12, 2025
A group of professors at Columbia of all places, recently wrote an op-ed for the Columbia Spectator, denouncing what they call an ‘attack’ on professor Bray, and claiming to defend academic freedom:
We recognize in the case of Rutgers historian Mark Bray a threat to us all
We, the undersigned historians at Columbia University and Barnard College, write to express our profound dismay at the events involving historian Professor Mark Bray, a scholar of anti-fascist political movements at Rutgers University. After he was targeted by the Rutgers chapter of Turning Point USA, Professor Bray and his family members received death threats, and his home address was circulated online. Afraid for his safety and that of his family, he and his partner, Professor Yesenia Barragan, a fellow historian who received her PhD from Columbia, left the United States with their children.
To our knowledge, this is the first case in recent memory of a historian who has fled the country after receiving death threats on account of the history that they teach. It represents not just an attack on Professor Bray and his family on a personal level but also on academic freedom in general, and, as such, it has implications for all faculty, including those of us who teach at Barnard and Columbia.
Progressives, who think nothing of the suppression of conservative voices on campus, suddenly become champions of academic freedom and freedom of speech when one of their own is called out by students.
If the left believes so strongly in this, does that mean that Ann Coulter, Ben Shapiro, and other conservative figures can now speak on college campuses without sparking a riot? I’m guessing no.
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Comments
“this is the first case in recent memory of a historian who has fled the country”
Did he? Last I heard, he was still here because the dog ate his homework.
Hey, Mark — ¿Hablas español?
I he and his family is gone and good riddance. It’s funny that academics and people on the left have suddenly discovered doxxing is bad, violent death threats are bad and support free speech . Not really, though. They support their speech and anyone that agrees with them. This guy donates half of his profit from “Antifa” to the International Anti-Fascist Defense Fund, a group which supports antifascist activists around the world which is odd because we are told there is no Antifa or organized groups supporting them. He claims to just be a historian but it’s obvious he is a shill for a domestic terrorist group. I predict Spain won’t be amused by him for long and he will end up right back here.
Too many of these “leaders” are boomer women in over their heads. Management and TOUGH decisions, including cracking down on real agitators, is not their strength.
Remember, becoming a “teacher” at any level when these boomers were “growing up” let one avoid the draft. Whether that decision was right (needed teachers for influx of more boomers in schools) or not, we are paying for these spoiled children denying tenure to anyone who did not go along with the loudmouths. Harassment against conservative professors has resulted in an education system that is totally destroying the foundation of the USA. THEY need to study the Constitution, etc. and take a few courses from Hillsdale College.
How many that say they are leaving really go?
Unless he really thinks the Government is on his Antifa tail he won’t leave.
Marxism goal is to destroy Western civilization.
An ideological battle at Rutgers? There is nobody on the other side of this s0-called battle. The “battle” at Rutgers was won by the far-left long ago. It’s over, and Rutgers, its faculty and administration, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the left. Rutgers is game over, and the non-left is not on the field.
Hell, he’s not the only terrorist in Academia.
Weird how they never have an “unwavering commitment to academic freedom and freedom of expression” when defending any professor on the Right.
Of course, no one can recall the last time Rutgers employed a professor on the Right.
Like so many other entities, universities have become almost totally left. It has been documented and proven over and over. If Trump has the time, he needs to asign a task force to investigate and resolve the one sided system in place. Number one is to get the government out of education with no government loans!
At least the Columbia statement can be used as evidence the Left understands the purpose and threat of doxing, and it can be thrown in the face of the next institution that doesn’t condemn the doxing of conservative and/or Jewish students.