Freedom and Standards at Brooklyn College: The Case of Kristofer Petersen-Overton

Sharad Karkhanis's Patriot Returns, which goes to 13,000 CUNY faculty and staff, published a recast version of my piece on the Kristofer Peterson-Overton matter that was covered in The New York Post, New York Daily News, New York Times, and Inside Higher Education. Brooklyn College's president, Karen Gould, decided to hire Petersen-Overton after the administration initially rescinded his contract. Assemblyman Dov Hikind had written a letter protesting Petersen-Overton's appointment after reading an academic piece he wrote that Hikind construed to support suicide bombing in Israel. The Brooklyn College administration initially stated that Petersen-Overton lacked the credentials to teach at the master's level and that they had made the decision prior to learning of Hikind's letter. They subsequently reversed themselves and appointed Petersen-Overton after all. My piece appears here.