DePaul University biology professor claims she was fired for giving students optional assignment on ‘genocide in Gaza’

An adjunct biology professor at DePaul University in Chicago said last week that she was fired for giving an optional assignment on the “Gaza genocide.”

Anne d’Aquino taught in the university’s Health Sciences department and was fired on May 8, just two days after her students were given the opportunity to write a paper on the impact of the “Gaza genocide on human health and biology.” Chicago Sun Times reported.

As d’Aquino explained her predicament to a group of reporters on the DePaul campus, about 50 protesters stood behind the recently fired instructor, waving Palestinian flags and holding signs that read “Academic Freedom Includes Palestine.”

“My resignation was a violation of my academic freedom and another example of this administration’s efforts to distort discussions about Palestine and the language of Palestinian liberation into false claims of anti-Semitism,” d’Aquino said at Thursday morning’s press conference.

D’Aquino reportedly filed an appeal on May 14, which the university says will be “concluded shortly.”

About 1,500 students have shown their support for d’Aquino by signing a petition calling for her reinstatement.

The 24-page document was hand-delivered to a university administration office.

The offending assignment was given in a d’Aquinas lesson that covered topics such as infectious diseases and antibiotics.

Students who worked on it had to read articles about ‘the intersection of biological sciences, health and history in Palestine’. They then had to write an article about the impact of ‘genocide in biology’.

D’Aquino emphasized that this assignment was related to the course, as scientists have been sounding the alarm about the spread of infectious diseases in Gaza for months.

In February, the World Health Organization said health workers on the ground in the war-torn city reported ‘outbreaks of acute respiratory infections, scabies, lice, diarrhea, rashes, chickenpox, and hepatitis-associated jaundice.’

According to the WHO, unsanitary conditions have become common in Gaza as key infrastructure has been disrupted. Overcrowding in shelters under these conditions only contributes to the spread of disease, the agency claims.

Anne d’Aquino, pictured, received her PhD in biological sciences from Northwestern University

Sarah Connolly, d’Aquino’s boss in the Health Sciences department, wrote a resignation letter claiming that students in the class were concerned about “the introduction of political matters”

Sarah Connolly, chair of the Department of Health Sciences, wrote in d’Aquino’s termination email that students expressed concern about “the introduction of political matters into the classroom,” the Sun Times reported.

D’Aquino had a different memory of the events, saying she received “no negative feedback on the assignment.”

A freshman in the class, who chose not to be identified, was “shocked, disappointed and speechless” about the fire. This student has not attended classes since Connolly took Teach d’Aquino’s old class.

Sarah Van Loon, the regional manager of the American Jewish Committee Chicago, does not think d’Aquino’s intellectual freedom has been violated and that there are limits to what an instructor can teach when it comes to politics.

“We have a biology professor who discusses politics in the Middle East or makes a comment about Gaza,” Van Loon said.

“It’s really not in line with where they want to teach and it also exposes the university to risk,” adding, “I’m not surprised that the university felt this wasn’t something that kept their standards high.”

Sarah Van Loon, left, commented on d’Aquino’s dismissal, saying a biology professor should not talk about Middle East politics. Meanwhile, Victoria Agunod, another DePaul adjunct professor, claims she was investigated by the university for her alleged pro-Palestinian views

Professors across the country are under increased scrutiny for their political views and their activities amid the widespread pro-Palestinian protests that took college campuses by storm during the spring semester.

A professor at the University of Texas, Austin, was fired in May after being accused of breaching police lines, shouting expletives in police faces and destroying police property during a pro-Palestine demonstration in April.

And two public school teachers at a Los Angeles-area synagogue were placed on leave in November after first-graders there received a lesson on “the genocide in Palestine,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

At DePaul, another teacher reportedly had trouble with university officials over her alleged pro-Palestinian views.

Victoria Agunod, an adjunct professor in the Peace, Justice and Conflict Studies Program, told the Sun Times that she had been investigated for her views on the Gaza war, which she described as “terrifying” and “political oppression.”

D’Aquino hopes her appeal is successful and that she can return to see her students’ final projects.