University of Vermont: University Forces Event Featuring Palestinian Writer to Move Fully Online

On October 21, 2023, the University of Vermont informed organizers of an October 26 in-person event featuring Palestinian writer Mohammed El-Kurd that it could not proceed as planned because the university claimed it could not “adequately provide safety and security.” FIRE wrote UVM on October 25 urging it to either restore the event to its previous in-person format or substantiate the unspecified security concerns. UVM did not respond, and the event proceeded fully online on October 26 instead of in its originally planned format. Through a FOIA request, FIRE obtained documents indicating that the university used the safety concerns as a pretext to modify the event because the in-person event would do “harm” to the community.