UC Berkeley suspends lecturer Peyrin Kao for pro-Palestinian speech in the classroom | Campus

UC Berkeley administration has suspended lecturer Peyrin Kao for the spring 2026 semester without pay for pro-Palestinian political remarks made in the classroom. 

The six-month suspension was enacted following a recommendation letter issued by Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Benjamin Hermalin, in which he claimed Kao misused the classroom “for the purpose of political advocacy” during the spring 2024 and fall 2025 semesters.

Following the suspension, STEM4Palestine, a campus group Kao helped found, announced plans to initiate a “mass hunger strike” this Wednesday. The group insists campus administration reinstate Kao while demanding “the divestment of UC funds from the genocide in Gaza,” a cause the lecturer has championed.

Jessica Conte, a field representative for UC-AFT, the union that represents lecturers on campus, said it plans to file a grievance against Kao’s suspension. Conte said the union alleges the suspension was made “without any standard of just cause.”

Kao, a lecturer in the electrical engineering and computer sciences, or EECS, department, has been an outspoken advocate for Palestinian rights, and this fall began a 38-day hunger strike to protest the use of technology during Israel’s genocide in Gaza. 

In the suspension recommendation letter, Hermalin cited this strike alongside other comments made in a lecture hall as the reasoning for the suspension. 

Kao told students in his Computer Science 61B lecture that he was undergoing a “starvation diet” but did not elaborate during class. Instead, he provided students with a link to his website where they could learn more. The website said his starvation diet was in support of EECS4Palestine, the previous name of STEM4Palestine.

In the violations findings letter, Hermalin compared “the visible physical toll” of Kao’s hunger strike and the “adverse consequences it may have had” on his ability to teach, to a professor who might wear a political T-shirt. He alleged Kao’s hunger strike violated Regents Policy 2301, which states instructors may not use the classroom for “political indoctrination” or instruction of content outside the scope of the course.

Hermalin also cited an incident in spring 2024. After class had officially ended on April 26, Kao made closing remarks that attributed the lack of diversity in EECS to the department’s hesitation to discuss social issues and reiterated his support for Palestine. 

Hermalin alleged Kao’s remarks, albeit after class, “misused his authority over his students in the classroom” and violated Regents Policy 2301. The letter claimed that “even if students wished to leave, they could not teleport themselves out—it takes time for a large lecture hall to clear.” 

This is not the first time Kao has received disciplinary action. He previously received a letter of censure from then-EECS Chair Claire Tomlin after making post-lecture remarks in solidarity with Palestine at the end of his last CS 61B class Nov. 17, 2023, which he had ended roughly 30 minutes early. 

While Kao ultimately received a six-month suspension without pay, Hermalin added in the conclusion of his letter that he “would have no objection” if the chairs of Kao’s department decided on more severe disciplinary actions, including “permanently terminating Mr. Kao’s employment as a lecturer.” 

This recommendation follows a previous disciplinary analysis conducted by EECS Chair Jelani Nelson and Division of Computer Sciences Chair John Wawrzynek, in which their findings were less severe.

“We concur with the finding that Mr. Kao violated Regents Policy 2301 in November 2023,” the letter stated. “We believe he violated it again in Spring 2024, though to a lesser degree … It is less clear to us whether his actions thus far in Fall 2025 can be seen as a violation.”

In response to Hermalin, Kao wrote a letter defending his actions and claimed he did not violate the policy. Kao said his spring 2024 lecture used the genocide in Gaza as an example of the ethical implications of technology and was attempting to push students to think critically, not sway their views. 

Kao further argued that informing students of his hunger strike is the same as an instructor telling students that they are sick or did not get enough sleep the night before. He denied Hermalin’s allegations that his hunger strike had a visible physical toll and claimed that the lectures he gave during his strike were “indistinguishable” from other lectures he’s given. 

Following the official notice of Kao’s suspension last Thursday, campus groups, union representatives and student leaders have decried the move, announcing plans to mobilize against the decision. 

This Wednesday, STEM4Palestine is hosting a “study-in” at Doe Library from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. as part of an initiative to launch a mass hunger strike, encouraging students on campus to join. The group told The Daily Californian that it has planned other events throughout the week, including a teach-in on Sproul Plaza on Thursday, among other actions. 

“We are striking to demand the divestment of UC funds from the genocide in Gaza, and the reinstatement of lecturer Peyrin Kao,” the group said in a statement to the Daily Cal. “We will be eating 350 calories a day. This starvation diet is the daily allowance for those trapped under Zionist occupation of Gaza, despite a ‘ceasefire’ during which fully-stocked aid trucks are blocked.” 

According to University Council – American Federation of Teachers grievance steward Ian Davis, the union argues campus administrators should “rescind” the suspension censure. 

In an email to the Daily Cal, Davis said the suspension is a case of “wrongful discipline” as Kao’s actions were “extramural and voluntary” and relevant to learning, adding that the censure is a “potential violation of academic freedom under UC policy.”

“Suspending and firing teachers who say things people don’t agree with is not intellectual diversity and violates the rights of those teaching,” Davis said in the email. “So, we are hoping that the University formally withdraw the censure, reaffirm lecturers’ rights to academic and extramural expression, and clarify guidance for faculty regarding discussions of ethical and political issues in their fields.”

Alongside the grievance against the suspension decision, Kao’s union representatives claim campus administrators also committed violations in the disciplinary process itself. 

As a California state employee, Kao is entitled to a “Skelly hearing,” in which the proposed disciplinary action is reviewed by a third party. In Kao’s case, his proposed suspension was reviewed by Eric Meyer, the dean of UC Berkeley’s School of Information.

The Skelly review did not release its results until 32 days after the initial notice of intent of suspension was sent to Kao. Because the final decision was not imposed within 30 days, Conte said UC-AFT believes there was a “due process violation.”

While Kao was engaged in his 38-day hunger strike, numerous campus students and staff joined him in “one-day solidarity strikes,” where individuals expressed support for Palestine in videos posted on the STEM4Palestine Instagram account. 

Community members who participated in the solidarity strikes include Berkeley City Councilmember Cecilia Lunaparra, ASUC Executive Vice President Isha Chander and ASUC President Abigail Verino, among others. 

“As the leadership of the ASUC, we stand in unwavering solidarity with Peyrin Kao and urge the University, specifically the Executive Vice Chancellor & Provost Benjamin Hermalin and Dean of the School of Information Eric Meyer to reconsider their decision to suspend him from working on campus,” Verino said in a statement to the Daily Cal. 

UC Berkeley spokesperson Janet Gilmore declined to comment, stating campus does not discuss personnel matters. 

Kao, whose personal information was shared among the names of 160 students and staff that UC Berkeley turned over to the federal government for alleged campus antisemitism, said he intends to continue his pro-Palestinian advocacy as Israel has continued to strike Gaza during the ceasefire.

The ceasefire was announced in October. In September, the United Nations legal analysis found that Israel committed genocide against Palestinians during its war on Gaza. 

“I intend to continue exercising my First Amendment right to advocate for human rights and against the apartheid and genocide in Palestine,” Kao said in an email. 

Hana Cochinwala contributed to this report.

Clarification 12/8/2025: A previous version of this article implied Peyrin Kao was suspended for pro-Palestinian speech, when in fact, he was specifically suspended for pro-Palestinian speech for the purpose of political advocacy in the classroom.