On April 5, the University of Notre Dame canceled a keynote address scheduled to be given by Dr. Eman Abdelhadi at the 2025 Student Peace Conference organized by students at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.
The dean of the Keough School informed Dr. Abdelhadi as follows, “We were unaware of your planned lecture, and since this conference overlaps with two other annual events on campus, we cannot provide security at short notice. For this reason, we respectfully request that you do not participate in the conference.”
The University did not discuss with Dr. Abdelhadi and the student organizers of the conference the possibility of addressing the University’s security concerns in other ways: postponing the lecture, presenting the lecture over Zoom or hiring external security.
As faculty, staff, students and alumni of the Kroc Institute, we are extremely disappointed at the cancellation and oppose it strongly.
The cancellation was a fundamental violation of the principle of academic freedom. This principle is the lifeblood of any university that prizes critical, rigorous and sound research, teaching and debate.
The principles of academic freedom, open discussion and free inquiry are enshrined in Notre Dame’s mission statement and were affirmed in 2024 by University’s President and Provost. These affirmations ring hollow if we fail to defend, maintain and promote academic freedom in practice.
This is true at all times. It is especially relevant in times of crisis. Academic freedom is currently under severe threat at colleges throughout the country. In terms of our institutional values, we are obliged to resist that threat and not succumb to it.
The cancellation of Dr. Abdelhadi’s talk is especially painful in light of her Palestinian identity, occurring at a time when the Palestinian people are subject to the most brutal and extensive violence and attempts at physical, cultural and political erasure. It is a “tragedy,” as she put it, “when we cannot rely on universities to house our most critical conversations.”
We salute the student organizers of the peace conference. Their courage, integrity, grace and protest best reflect the values of Notre Dame.
70-plus signatories in support of the letter
May 13
