An arbitrator ruled this week that a San José State University professor who was terminated following disputes over her role in campus protests related to the Gaza war two years ago must be reinstated as a tenured professor, according to the Cal State faculty union.
The California Faculty Assn., the union representing some 29,000 professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches, said in a written statementthat the arbitrator found the termination of Sang Hea Kil, professor of justice studies, was excessive and should be reduced to a one-month unpaid suspension.
Kil came under fire in two years ago amid widespread protests over the war in Gaza following the attacks against Israel on October 2023 by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that the U.S. has designated as a terrorist group.
A San José State University spokesperson said it was unable to comment on an ongoing personnel matter.
This week’s ruling, however, supports a November 2025 decision by the Faculty Hearing Committee, an independent board that investigates and adjudicates disputes involving faculty members. The committee found that Kil’s actions were not egregious enough to warrant her dismissal by the university, according to the faculty union.
San José State University President Cynthia Teniente-Matson disagreed with the committee’s decision, prompting the issue to go to arbitration, where the union sought to challenge the interference with academic freedom, free speech and the lack of “just cause.” It was unclear why Teniente-Matson disagreed with the committee’s decision.
”We have never seen such an overreach in punishing faculty,” the union said in its statement. “That’s why we agreed without hesitation to represent Dr. Kil in the faculty committee and the arbitration.”
Two years ago, university officials launched an investigation into Kil for misconduct. They alleged she violated her duty and responsibility as a faculty member by directing and encouraging students to violate university policies that regulate free speech on campus and promote diversity and equal opportunity.
She was notified of the investigation via a letter dated April 2024. In the letter, university officials claimed that she had taken part in a February protest held inside Sweeney Hall and had “engaged in behavior that disrupted the university’s business operations and encouraged students to do the same.”
Two weeks after the letter was sent, she received an email from the vice president of student affairs accusing her of directing students at a May 8 rally to ignore university policies and march through the university’s recreation center. The email also accused Kil of directing students to set up an encampment on the lawn.
“That never happened,” she said in a phone interview at the time. “I felt very comfortable emailing her back and saying that I categorically deny all these allegations because they weren’t based on any evidence or fact.”
Kil was placed on a 60-day administrative leave while the university conducted its investigation.
At the core of the university’s allegations is that Kil violated the university’s “Freedom of Expression and Time, Place and Manner” policy, which imposes some limitations on free speech events held on the university’s property. Kil said at the time that officials don’t enforce the policy equally.
Cal State faculty union officials said the university’s actions against Kil were reflective of similar actions taken against faculty members across the country who supported Palestinian issues and voiced criticism of Israel.
The union said that has prompted them to bargain for stronger protections for its members against censorship or retaliation that may arise from research, scholarship and creative endeavors.
Earlier this year, the union settledwith the CSU system over disclosure of faculty members’ personal information in response to subpoenas from the Trump administration’s U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The union said it’s supporting state measure AB 2551, introduced by state Assemblymember Sade Elhawary (D-Los Angeles), which would require the Cal State system to include demographic data in its annual reports about student violations including those related to time, place and manner policies. It would also require state universities to established committee hearings to elicit feedback on such policies.
In an email response to The Times, Kil said she and her attorneys planned to address this week’s ruling during a Monday news conference in Pasadena. Attorneys also plan to announce the filing of a civil rights lawsuit against the university.
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