UCLA Chancellor faces backlash over 9/11 symposium rebuke

UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk is facing backlash from law faculty and hundreds of professors nationwide following his condemnation of a university symposium. The event, titled ‘Reimagining Freedom, Justice, and Security’, was held to mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Critics, including computer scientist Judea Pearl, denounced the symposium due to its speaker lineup. Participants included the lawyer for the individual who confessed to the murder of journalist Daniel Pearl, a professor who characterized U.S. counterterrorism as ‘racist’, and a director from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

In response to the criticism, Chancellor Frenk issued a statement supporting Pearl. However, UCLA Law faculty signed open letters arguing that the Chancellor’s rebuke violated academic freedom and constituted an ‘assault on the law school’, claiming the action exposed organizers and speakers to harassment and threats.