LEXINGTON — A University of Kentucky law professor who was removed from his teaching duties after posting an online petition calling for military action against Israel appeared in federal court Friday as a judge weighs allowing him to return to the classroom.
Ramsi Woodcock, the professor, filed the lawsuit in November, seeking to be returned to his teaching duties as a full-time tenured professor. His suit also challenges the use of a widespread but controversial definition of antisemitism in in university disciplinary actions and by the federal government. The definition was adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) in 2016.
UK administrators said they reassigned Woodcock from his teaching duties and began an investigation into his conduct last summer after learning of an online petition he circulated that called for military action against Israel. He was also barred from entering the UK College of Law building on the Lexington campus.
U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves, who was appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush, heard testimony from Woodcock and two other UK employees.
The immediate question before the judge is whether to return Woodcock to teaching next month when a new semester begins. Reeves said he became “more skeptical” after continuing to hear questions from Woodcock’s attorneys. At one point, the judge said Woodcock’s lawyers “haven’t shown me a nickel’s worth of harm” that has occurred to Woodcock amid his removal from the classroom. UK is continuing to pay Woodcock his salary and benefits.
After the hearing concluded, Woodcock said he was glad to have a chance to “tell my story” in court.
UK spokesman Jay Blanton said in a statement to the Kentucky Lantern that Reeves had been “well prepared and asked thoughtful questions” throughout the hearing.
“We were pleased to defend the university’s decisions to investigate Professor Woodcock and to reassign him during the investigations,” Blanton added.
UK is hoping to dismiss the case entirely. In documents it filed, the university said its investigation into accusations against Woodcock is still ongoing and it may take action in the matter in the future, whether it be returning him to the classroom or disciplinary action.
UK sent Woodcock a notice of investigation in July after the administration became aware of the online petition and was told Woodcock spoke about genocide in Gaza at an academic conference and during another university’s panel discussion. Additionally, the letter alleged Woodcock “spammed” Listservs “with your personal viewpoints concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” The letter says four professors who said they heard him speak at academic conferences or were on the Listservs reported the statements.
Later, UK sent an amended letter in September saying that four students “some of whom are Jewish” also notified UK that Woodcock in his official capacity was calling “for violence against Israel, the genocide of Israeli people who are predominantly Jewish, and the ultimate destruction of Israel.” One report alleged Woodcock made “anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli remarks during an optional lecture,” while another said he shouted “Free Palestine” while in a car with UK law students.
