Arbitrator Orders Reinstatement of SJSU Professor Fired After Pro-Palestinian Protests
“The arbitrator still sanctioned Kil because she disrupted another faculty member’s lecture…”
San José State University fired Professor Sang Hea Kil after she participated in pro-Palestinian student protests, citing violations of California State University policies.
But now she’ll return. From The College Fix:
The arbitrator decided a one-month unpaid suspension was an appropriate penalty instead of termination, California Faculty Association President Margarita Berta-Ávila announced in a news release Monday.
The arbitrator still sanctioned Kil because she disrupted another faculty member’s lecture, which she disagreed with, and gave students incorrect advice about a rule she should have known.
Berta-Ávila stated CFA has represented the professor for almost two years, “appealing to the [Faculty Hearing Committee], and representing her in arbitration after the SJSU President rejected the FHC’s decision.”
“Dr. Kil has been a staunch advocate for her students’ fight against the genocide in Gaza. She has fiercely defended her students’ right to speak freely on these issues and has herself been critical of right-wing interests interfering with constitutional rights and academic freedom across the nation,” the CFA president stated.
The arbitrator’s ruling aligns with the FHC’s decision in November 2025, which also found that Kil’s termination was not justified.
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