Katherine Franke

Last updated

We have a — Columbia has a program. It’s a graduate relationship with older students from other countries, including Israel. And it’s something that many of us were concerned about, because so many of those Israeli students, who then come to the Columbia campus, are coming right out of their military service. And they’ve been known to harass Palestinian and other students on our campus. And it’s something the university has not taken seriously in the past.

Katherine Franke,Interview with Democracy Now! [13]

In December, during a Congressional hearing on antisemitism, Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik [12] [14] [15] quoted Franke as saying that 'all Israeli students who have served in the IDF are dangerous and shouldn't be on campus. [12] [14] [16] [17] Stefanik sources conceded that the Congresswoman had paraphrased a source which had paraphrased another source. [14]

Following this, Franke received violent threats [14] [17] and claimed people, posing as students, enrolled in her classes to provoke discussions and secretly videotaped her.

In November, an external review concluded that Franke had violated university policies [12] and, in January 2025, Franke announced her retirement from Columbia. [12] Her firing was criticised by activists, academics, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese. [16] [18]

Personal life

Franke is out and has spoken on her experiences as a member of the gay community in the 1980s and 1990s, and on being one of few out lesbian professors earlier in her career. [19]

References

  1. 1 2 "Katherine M. Franke". www.law.columbia.edu. Archived from the original on April 14, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  2. "My Must-Take Course: Gender Justice". Bold. Beautiful. Barnard. April 24, 2020. Archived from the original on July 1, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  3. "Katherine Franke | Institute for the Study of Human Rights". www.humanrightscolumbia.org. Archived from the original on July 1, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  4. "Wedlocked". NYU Press. Archived from the original on July 1, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  5. Bix, Brian (May 1, 2016). "Book Review of Wedlocked: The Perils of Marriage Equality—How African Americans and Gays Mistakenly Thought Marriage Equality Would Set Them Free by Katherine Franke". Journal of Legal Education. 65 (4): 983. ISSN   0022-2208. Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  6. Cohen, Roger (May 4, 2018). "Opinion | Israel Banishes a Columbia Law Professor for Thinking Differently". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 31, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  7. Kraft, Dina (May 3, 2018). "Two Leading U.S. Human Rights Activists Refused Entry to Israel, One for BDS Ties". Haaretz. Archived from the original on June 9, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  8. "ProfKFranke Twitter". Twitter/X.
  9. Forgash, Emily; Chapa, Amanda (November 1, 2023). "Hundreds of faculty sign open letters in debate around free speech, student safety following Palestinian solidarity statement". Columbia Spectator . Archived from the original on December 25, 2024.
  10. Keene, Louis (September 3, 2024). "'Hazardous chemical' spewed at a Columbia anti-Israel protest was actually novelty spray, school says". The Forward.
  11. Mendell, Chris (January 22, 2024). "Protesters allegedly sprayed with hazardous chemical at pro-Palestinian rally, nearly two dozen report". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 Saul, Stephanie (January 11, 2025). "Columbia Professor Katherine Franke Says She Was Forced to Retire Because of Activism" . The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  13. "Professors Slam Columbia's Response to Chemical Skunk Attack at Pro-Palestine Protest". Democracy Now!. January 25, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
  14. 1 2 3 4 Quinn, Ryan. "Columbia's President Denounced Her Before Congress. Firing Could Be Next". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  15. "ICYMI: Stefanik Demands Columbia University President Commit to Fighting Antisemitism on Campus". Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. April 17, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
  16. 1 2 "Activists back US professor 'forced' from Columbia over Palestine advocacy". Al-Jazeera. January 12, 2025.
  17. 1 2 Betts, Anna (January 13, 2025). "Pro-Palestinian professor says she was forced out of Columbia University". The Guardian.
  18. Mustafa, Maysa (January 13, 2025). "'Persecution': Outpouring of anger after 'termination' of pro-Palestine Columbia professor". Middle East Eye.
  19. "A Conversation With Out-Spoken Professor Katherine Franke". www.law.columbia.edu. June 9, 2022. Archived from the original on June 10, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
Katherine Franke
Academic background
Education