The College Fix

National free speech group says there are concerns, but it needs further info

A national free speech group is looking into the University of Minnesota’s abrupt decision to rescind a job from its incoming Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies director.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression told The College Fix in a phone interview it is trying to get in contact with Raz Segal.

Segal, who is Jewish, remains at Stockton University but he had planned to leave to lead the Holocaust center at the University of Minnesota. He lost the job offer after criticism from local Jewish and conservative groups over Segal’s (pictured) comments in October 2023, accusing Israel of “genocide.” The new director position may not be filled until the 2025-26 school year, according to comments made by the university’s interim president.

In June, two professors on the board of the center resigned to protest Segal’s selection, as reported by Minnesota Public Radio.

“We reached out to the Professor, Professor Raz Segal, to get more information about this. Right now, we’re still investigating and trying to get to the bottom of this,” FIRE attorney Zach Greenberg told The Fix. “Our concern is that this professor’s potential job offer was rescinded because of the professor’s viewpoints about Israel’s, and political positions, and we feel this may be a possible First Amendment free speech violation, punishing a professor for their extramural political expressions.”

The Twin Cities public university may have been within its rights, however.

“Universities have their own academic freedom to determine who may teach and what may be taught,” Greenberg said. “This encompasses the right to hire professors to fulfill this role. This right can be [in] conflict with a professor’s right to be free from punishment from a university, especially a state university, for their political beliefs.”

That is why “it’s important to determine what exactly is the reason for any rescinding of the offer or punishment of the professors, whether it’s based on their academic achievements or external political beliefs,” Greenberg said.

The free speech group has not heard back from Segal and has yet to contact the university.

“We’re still investigating this matter and trying to determine for ourselves,” Greenberg said, responding to a question about if FIRE planned to get involved.

Segal did not respond to two emails and a phone call requesting comment in the past several weeks and clarity on his employment status. However, in a July 11 essay in Forward, he called the situation a “grave attack on academic freedom.”

Segal also countered the accusation that he supported Hamas’ actions. “I have never justified Hamas atrocities. In fact, I have clearly stated multiple times — in October and in November, to take just two examples — that the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7 was a case of mass murder and war crimes,” he wrote.

The university deferred to a recording of the June Board of Regents meeting when asked for comment by The Fix.

During June’s Board of Regents meeting, President Jeffrey Ettinger cited community concerns as the reason for pausing the search for the center’s new director and rescinding Professor Segal’s offer.

“Subsequent to that offer being extended on June 5, a number of university colleagues, as well as members of the community, have come forward to express their interest in providing perspective on the position of director of the Center on Holocaust Studies,” Ettinger said. “We have heard these constituents’ strong interest in providing their perspectives on who is hired for this position.”

He promised to have more community input in the future selection process.

Jewish leader praises decision

Rabbi Yaakov Menken with the Coalition for Jewish Values said the university made the right choice in revoking the job offer.

“As Segal demonstrates, a Jew ignorant of our history and how we have classically and correctly identified antisemitism can be as indoctrinated and antisemitic as anyone else,” Menken told The Fix via email. “The concern is that given their choice for leadership and the utter lack of relevant scholarship among the staff, this Holocaust Center will turn out to be a tool for justifying the next one.”

“The reason why Segal lost his job offer is because the accusation of genocide against Israel is fundamentally similar to what Nazis had to say about Jews,” he said.

“It is obvious that the moment Hamas lays down its weapons and releases the hostages, all suffering in Gaza will end,” Menken said. “That means the efforts to point fingers at any other party are rooted in bigotry—they cover for the explicitly genocidal purpose and aims of the Hamas organization.”

“To demonize Jews out of a desire for Jewish blood is not new; these are the people who, during the Holocaust, were all for it.”

MORE: University of Florida suspends pro-Palestinian activists

IMAGE: Stockton University

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