Brooklyn College: Public Officials Threaten School Funding Over Controversial Forum

On January 29, 2013, ten members of the New York City Council told Brooklyn College that if it did not cancel an event it was cosponsoring titled “BDS Movement Against Israel,” the college might lose taxpayer funding. The February 7 BDS event was co-sponsored by the college’s political science department and the college’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. In response, on February 6, FIRE wrote an open letter to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz expressing concern for the ramifications for academic freedom posed by the threats to Brooklyn College’s funding. The event took place, and the college did not lose its taxpayer funding.