In August 2025, at the start of the fall semester, UC Berkeley Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) lecturer Peyrin Kao went on a 38-day hunger strike to protest the genocide in Gaza and bring greater awareness onto the university campus. Kao states that he ate only 250 calories a day to represent the famine Gazans are currently experiencing. Additionally, throughout the 38 days, Kao also documented his hunger strike on the @berkeleystem4palestine Instagram page, garnering support from a broader audience.
However, a few days ago, Kao was issued a six-month suspension from teaching after the Executive Vice Chanceller and Provost Benjamin Hermalin sent a recommendation to the EECS Department and Division Chairs. The letter claimed Kao “misused the classroom for the purpose of political advocacy.” In one instance, he spoke about the genocide in Palestine after his lecture had officially ended, and in another, mentioned that he was hunger striking to his students. The Department and Division Chairs agreed to Hermalin’s recommendation, issuing a minimum one semester ban without pay starting spring 2026 and additional monitoring of his classroom if he were to return.
Kao’s suspension did not occur without resistance. On Wednesday of this week, STEM4Palestine organized a “study-in” at Doe Library to demand UC Berkeley divest from the genocide in Gaza and reinstate Kao as a lecturer. The group also hosted a teach-in earlier this week, with plans to launch a mass hunger strike, encouraging participation from other students. Representatives from the University Council – American Federation of Teachers union are also urging the university to withdraw the censure, and claimed that there was a due process violation in issuing the intent of suspension.
This comes at a time when university campuses across the country are cracking down on students for Pro-Palestine speech and activism. Kao was one of the 160 students, faculty, and staff whose names UC Berkeley had shared with the U.S. Department of Education as part of a larger investigation across 60 universities for allegations of antisemitism. This submission to the Trump administration by UC Berkeley and other universities who have followed suit is unacceptable. We commend Peyrin Kao for speaking up about the genocide in Palestine, and we must not let these institutions’ fear tactics silence us.
