Humanities lecturer Brook Haley returned to campus on May 29 following his two-week presence ban, which resulted from his May 15 arrest on a felony vandalism charge at a pro-Palestinian rally on campus.
Alongside his arrest, Haley was served with a Notice of Withdrawal of Consent to Remain on Campus by UCI, which limited his teaching to Zoom for two weeks. This accommodation to teach online was allowed by Dean of the School of Humanities Tyrus Miller and Humanities Core Program Director Jonathan Alexander as an alternative to removing Haley from his position as a continuing lecturer.
“I’ve got a pretty fraught relationship with it. On the one hand, it saved my job. On the other, it didn’t let me do my job very well,” Haley told New University.
University Counsel-American Federation of Teachers began a petition on Haley’s behalf, titled “Lift the ban! Let Brook teach!!” In under a week, the petition gained over 7,000 signatures.
Haley was arrested before delivering their speech at the Nakba 77 rally, which commemorated the 77th year since the beginning of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Law enforcement claimed to have video evidence of Haley pouring red dye into the Infinity Fountain between the Physical Sciences Quad and Aldrich Park, though Haley denies these allegations.
Haley was arrested alongside a student, while four other protesters were also detained. Haley and the arrested student remained in a Santa Ana jail overnight while Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at UCI raised bail money via social media. The two were released on May 16 after the organization successfully raised over $4,000 for bail.
Tom Vasich, UCI Senior Director of Communications and Media Relations, provided a statement from UCI regarding the arrests in an email to New University.
“UC Irvine respects the rights of individuals to free speech and peaceful assembly. At the same time, we are committed to helping maintain a safe and lawful campus environment and to protecting university property. The university continues to uphold its policies and all applicable laws,” he wrote.
Haley believes that they may be regarded by law enforcement as a leader of the pro-Palestine movement on campus due to their history of involvement in protests. This includes their previous arrest on a felony misdemeanor charge for failing to disperse from an unlawful assembly exactly one year prior at Nakba 76, when the UCI Gaza Solidarity encampment was dismantled.
Haley claims that professors at UCI are discouraged from discussing topics such as the Arab-Israeli War, which they feel is contradictory to the values outlined in faculty members’ contracts for “ethical research and for open and robust debate about complex topics.”
“I hope that my advocacy reminds them [faculty members] that they have a right and also an obligation, I feel, to address these questions,” Haley said.
Following the conclusion of Haley’s ban from appearing on campus, they met with SJP at UCI and Resist US-Led War at UCI to film their speech at the Physical Sciences Lecture Hall, where Haley originally intended it to be delivered.
Haley’s initial arraignment for the felony vandalism charge is set for June 16, and the pre-trial hearing for his felony misdemeanor charge will be held on June 18. The UCI Police Department has not yet sent its report of the vandalism to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
The UCI Humanities Department did not respond to a New University request for comment.
Lauren Durham is a News Intern for the spring 2025 quarter. She can be reached at durhaml@uci.edu.
