Open Letter to Chancellor Lyons, from the Bay Area Chapter of UC-AFT
To: Rich Lyons, Chancellor of University of California, Berkeley
From: the UC-AFT, Union of Lecturers and Librarians at UC Berkeley
Friday, September 19, 2025
Chancellor Lyons,
A member of our union, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS) lecturer Peyrin Kao, is currently on hunger strike on our campus, consuming only 250 calories per day. He has been starving himself for over three weeks to protest UC Berkeley’s investments in Israel and the role that EECS, specifically, plays in supporting Israel’s war on Gaza, which has caused devastating civilian loss of life.
Peyrin is also one of 160 faculty, students, and staff whose personally identifiable information (PII) the university handed over to the federal government in cooperation with the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) investigation into “antisemitic harassment and discrimination.” A letter from David Robinson, Chief Campus Counsel, notified them of this decision. UC-AFT was not copied on these communications sent to our members, and we are deeply concerned for the reputations, careers, and safety of lecturers and others affected whose lives could be irreparably harmed by this betrayal.
We have considered the position voiced by your spokesperson, Rachel Zaentz: “Our campuses routinely receive document requests in connection with government audits, compliance reviews, or investigations. UC is committed to protecting the privacy of our students, faculty, and staff to the greatest extent possible, while fulfilling its legal obligations.” According to another university spokesperson, Janet Gilmore, UC Berkeley is “committed to transparency and supporting our campus community while complying with federal investigations.” Yet, if “fulfilling legal obligations” to and “complying with federal investigations” of a regime that hundreds of political scientists say is moving toward authoritarianism take precedence over protecting faculty, students, and staff, then the university is acting as an arm of that authoritarian regime.
All of us who watched you testify before Congress recognize that you are in a difficult position. But your complicity with OCR in turning over names of individuals, including UC-AFT members – for whatever reason – reveals a troubling willingness to compromise the safety of workers. As a result of UC Berkeley’s breach, our members are facing chilled speech, institutional mistrust, and individual fear. They are afraid for their jobs, their families, and their lives. Non-citizens fear detention and deportation. In light of this serious harm, we call on you to take the following actions:
- Immediately provide UC-AFT with a list of all members whose names you submitted to the Office for Civil Rights.
- Provide clear justification for why 160 individuals were linked to “alleged antisemitic incidents” at UC Berkeley.
- Pledge full legal representation to these individuals and commit to covering any legal expenses they may incur as a result of the university’s disclosure.
- Specify how the university will protect free speech, academic freedom, and community safety going forward under the Trump administration.
- Publicly accede to the Berkeley Faculty Association and the American Association of University Professors’ four demands for commitments from campus.
Through his principled hunger strike, our colleague Peyrin Kao is compelling us at UC Berkeley to confront the moral direction of this institution. For lecturers like Peyrin, among the most precarious workers on campus, a hunger strike in solidarity with the people of Gaza is courageous, given all he has to lose: his health, his job, and his personal privacy. We stand with Peyrin and all members of the UC community who are resisting authoritarianism, and we call on UC Berkeley to pledge to support the 160 individuals whom it has endangered, defend our tradition of free inquiry, and end its collaboration with the current regime.
Sincerely,
Leaders of the UC-AFT 1474 Bay Area Chapter
