Irvine Mayor Larry Agran addressed a letter to UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman on Aug. 12, urging the chancellor to consider dropping the disciplinary actions taken against two faculty members who participated in the spring 2024 pro-Palestine protests. As of Aug. 21, Gillman is still yet to respond to the letter, which was hand delivered to his office on Aug. 14.
The letter was drafted after about three weeks of discussions between Agran and approximately 25 faculty members from other UC schools. It references punishments imposed on Humanities Core lecturer Jonathan Brook Haley and Professor of global and international studies Tiffany Willoughby-Herard.
“I take this opportunity to request that you reconsider and set aside any fines, suspension of salaries, benefits and teaching assignments, letters of censure or other penalties that have been imposed; and that you otherwise restore both Tiffany Willoughby-Herard and Brook Haley
to their status as faculty in good standing,” Agran wrote in the letter.
In 2024, Haley and Willoughby-Herard faced misdemeanor charges of failure to disperse following police orders, after law enforcement officers from UCIPD and other Orange County agencies raided the encampment and arrested nearly 50 individuals, all of whom faced charges.
Charges against Willoughby-Herard were dropped, while Haley is scheduled to appear in court in September for both the misdemeanor charge and a separate felony vandalism charge that followed his arrest at a Nakba rally in May 2025. Haley maintains he is innocent of the vandalism charge.
Haley said that, following his second arrest, the university took $5,000 out of his salary by deducting $500 from each of his bi-weekly paychecks. A UCI Academic Senate committee investigated Willoughby-Herard almost a year after her arrest, on charges of violating the university code of conduct. The committee recommended to the chancellor that she be suspended for one quarter without salary and that a letter of censure be included in her file. Gillman approved the recommendation, then imposed additional disciplinary actions, including discontinuing her healthcare benefits, her right to supervise her graduate students and faculty voting privileges. Herard was notified of the final decision around early July.
“In every single space that I move at UCI, I try to move with a very soft spirit and a very gentle hand, and to be summarily told that I’m not worthy to be in a place that I’ve done everything I can to enhance. It’s hard on my soul, and it’s hard on my soul because I know I didn’t harm anyone,” Willoughby-Herard told New University.
Willoughby-Herard told New University that her accounts of her experience were not believed during the committee hearings, including those about losing a tooth and being sexually assaulted while in custody following her arrest.
In an email to New University, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Communication & Media Relations Michael Uhlenkamp said that the university does not comment on matters related to personnel.
According to the mayor’s Executive Assistant Scotty Hong, the mayor’s office got in contact with the chancellor’s office multiple times to request a meeting, to which the chancellor’s office indicated that Gillman will not be meeting with the mayor. Agran said he was hoping to discuss the events following the currently ongoing criminal cases and disciplinary actions, as well as the implications to free speech at UCI.
During conversations with UCI faculty, Agran said that he was surprised by the lack of direct communication between the faculty members and university administration and to hear that the university is still carrying out disciplinary actions two years after the arrests were made
“I thought perhaps with my letter and my request, this would be an opportunity to jumpstart those discussions,” Agran told New University. “I would think at this point Chancellor Gilman and the entire administration would be more interested in seeing to it that relationships could be repaired, that the chilling of free speech and the fear of retaliation that apparently exists on the campus could be not only dissipated but dispelled with, and we could move forward together in understanding, restoring and appreciating the benefits of a free and open opportunity for speech and protest on the campus and elsewhere in the city of Irvine.”
The university would not comment on discussions between Agran and Gillman. The UC faculty members and the mayor’s office met again on Aug. 21, according to Agran.
Since May 2024, the mayor’s office has been working with the Irvine office of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) to urge the Orange County District Attorney to drop criminal charges that were filed following the police raid, according to Hong. Currently, six cases are still ongoing.
UCI colleagues and faculty from across the UC system have shown their support for Willoughby-Herard and Haley. The University Council American Federation of Teachers began a petition calling for Haley’s return to campus after he was put on a two-week ban following his spring 2025 arrest. As of Aug. 21, a petition for Willoughby-Herard gathered nearly 7,000 signatures from students and faculty in the UC system and across the country.
The Middle East Studies Association also wrote a letter to Chancellor Gillman in July, urging a dismissal of all charges and sanctions the university was to impose on Willoughby-Herard.
For Willoughby-Herard, the aftermath of her arrest has been full of doctor’s appointments and reflection.
“I just wonder what it would be like if instead of punishment, leadership started from curiosity and care but that’s not where we have started from,” Willoughby-Herard said.
Mariam Farag is a 2026-2027 Managing Editor. She can be reached at msfarag@uci.edu.
Jayna Miller is a News Intern for the summer 2026 quarter. She can be reached at millerjy@uci.edu.
