Deep Reads: A Columbia professor criticized Israeli students. It put her job at risk.

Post Reports

Franke spoke out during the spring student protests on the Columbia University campus. She had watched as mostly Republican lawmakers grilled the presidents of MIT, the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard on live television. Soon after, the latter two women resigned — followed months later by Columbia’s Minouche Shafik. Franke read about professors at colleges in other states, from Arizona to California to Pennsylvania, who said they were fired or punished for speaking out about the Gaza war.

Months later, she didn’t know whether she’d be next. Nor had she decided how to respond to Columbia’s verdict of its probe into her actions, whenever it came: She could accept what the university determined. She could draw on her legal expertise to fight any punishment in court. Or she could give up and retire early, because sometimes she was no longer sure she wanted to stay.

Could she still teach at Columbia, if she could no longer recognize it? This is the story of what unfolded in Franke’s life after the student protests. The piece was reported, written and read by Hannah Natanson. Audio production and original music by Bishop Sand.