This is happening, folks. From the Guardian:
UC Berkeley shares 160 names with Trump administration in ‘McCarthy era’ moveProminent professor Judith Butler among students and faculty investigated for ‘alleged antisemitic incidents’
Sam Levin in Los Angeles
Fri 12 Sep 2025 15.35 EDT
Last modified on Fri 12 Sep 2025 15.46 EDTThe University of California, Berkeley has given the Trump administration the names of 160 faculty members and students as part of an investigation into “alleged antisemitic incidents”, a move a targeted scholar likened to a “practice from the McCarthy era”.
UC Berkeley, a top-ranked public institution, sent a letter to affected members of campus last week disclosing that university lawyers had included their names in reports to the Department of Education’s office for civil rights (OCR). The education department has been targeting colleges across the country as part of Donald Trump’s aggressive crackdown on pro-Palestinian activism, international students and academic freedom.
Judith Butler, a prominent feminist philosopher and qu*er [blindness: why th ef is this word being censored on this sight?] theorist, received the letter from David Robinson, UC Berkeley’s chief campus counsel, which said OCR was investigating “allegations of antisemitic harassment and discrimination” and “required production of comprehensive documents”.
Butler, a Jewish scholar who has been critical of Israel, said on Friday that they had questioned Robinson about the disclosures and said he provided no information on the specific allegations.
“We have a right to know the charges against us, to know who has made the charges and to review them and defend ourselves,” they said. “But none of that has happened, which is why we’re in Kafka-land … It is an enormous breach of trust.”
[...]
UC Berkeley officials confirmed on Friday that 160 people, including faculty, students and staff, had received letters warning of the disclosures and said the decision to send the information to the Trump administration was made by the University of California’s systemwide general counsel.
[...]
Butler said they were told that the university’s normal procedures for handling complaints had been suspended, which has seemingly stripped faculty of their rights to respond to claims or get basic information about the inquiries: “That means allegations sent to the administration, even anonymous ones, were simply forwarded without having been adjudicated … We don’t know whether we ourselves have been accused of antisemitism or whether our name is simply associated with an allegation.”
UC Berkeley’s counsel declined to share with Butler the contents of the files sent to the Trump administration, they said. With the materials now in the hands of the federal government, the disclosures raised concerns about violations of sixth amendment rights for people to know charges against them, they added.
[...]
Janet Gilmore, a UC Berkeley spokesperson, said in an email that “numerous documents” were provided to the federal government “over recent months”, including individuals’ names, and it was following guidance from the academic senate to inform people when their information is given to the federal government.
“We are committed to transparency and supporting our campus community while complying with federal investigations,” she said.
I have a lot to say here, but those are things I've already said many times on this board. There's really no point at me repeating them. At some point, I have to admit that the fact that my personal background is so weird and filled with twists and turns does not help me find the right way to communicate those ideas and experiences to most folks except for perhaps a handful of people here. So imagine I just went on one of my usual rants and let's move on.
I'll just note that this is yet another institution beginning its collapse, taking us closer to a highly disturbing world, to say the least. And this sh*t is not a distraction as the Democratic leadership desperately wants to believe. It is the thing itself.