Particle.news
Download on the App Store
3 ARTICLES
·
5d ago

UC Berkeley Suspends Lecturer Peyrin Kao for Six Months Over In-Class Political Advocacy

The university says he violated a policy barring political advocacy during class.

UC Berkeley computer science lecturer Peyrin Kao is seen telling the UC regents in September that he feared for his safety after the university included him in the 160 names of pro-Palestinian activists it shared with the Trump administration. Now, UC Berkeley says Kao violated rules barring instructors from advocating for political positions in the classroom. He has been suspended for six months, beginning in January. 
Image
Image

Overview

  • The unpaid suspension begins Jan. 1, 2026, after a campus review concluded Kao twice violated UC policy 2301.
  • Provost Benjamin Hermalin wrote that Kao misused class time, including drawing attention to his hunger strike on Aug. 27 and directing students to a website.
  • Hermalin recommended monitoring of Kao’s remaining lectures this term and cited a prior 2024 censure for similar conduct.
  • Kao denies wrongdoing, calls the discipline an unconstitutional attack on free speech, and plans to appeal with support from the UC-AFT union.
  • CAIR condemned the suspension as chilling speech, while Berkeley declined comment; the case unfolds as federal scrutiny of campus activism continues and UC Berkeley shared activists’ names with the Trump administration this summer.