UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk issued a rare public rebuke of a campus event this past Friday, distancing the university from a law school symposium on the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The symposium had faced criticism for including an attorney who has represented alleged 9/11 "mastermind" Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, as well as for its discussions on the Israel-Gaza conflict.
The two-day symposium, titled “25 Years After 9/11,” was sponsored by five law school centers: the Critical Race Studies Program, the International and Comparative Law Program, the Institute for Technology, Law and Policy, the Miñana Family Center for Immigration Law and Policy, and the Promise Institute for Human Rights. It focused on legal issues raised by the U.S. response to the attacks, covering topics like torture, rendition, detention, immigration enforcement, and government surveillance, stating that America’s response ushered in "sweeping expansions of state power."
Melanie T. Partow, an attorney who has represented Mohammed at Guantanamo Bay as part of the Department of Defense’s Military Commissions Defense Organization, was listed as a speaker. She participated in a Friday morning panel titled, “Torture, Rendition, and Detention: The Erosion of the Rights Regime Post-9/11.” Partow did not respond to a request for comment. The 9/11 Commission report identified Mohammed as the “principal architect” of the attacks.
Chancellor Frenk’s statement affirmed UCLA’s values, saying, “We reject antisemitism and terrorism in all their forms, and we believe our campus must be a place where the dignity of every member of our community is respected.” He added that nothing about the law school event, which the university does not endorse, changes these commitments. Frenk also clarified that “academic freedom does not require us to be neutral about antisemitism or terrorism” and that a speaker’s presence should not be mistaken for university approval or indifference to any pain caused.
Beyond the inclusion of Mohammed's attorney, some members of the Jewish campus community also objected to the program’s description of Israel’s war in Gaza as “genocide.” This aligns with conclusions reached by a United Nations commission, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch. However, Israel has rejected these findings, and major American Jewish leaders have called the allegation antisemitic. An open letter signed by more than 5,000 Jewish public figures and allies, including several UC professors, opposed the accusation, stating that "the massacre of October 7 has been systematically downplayed, while Israeli actions have been distorted and amplified."
The Chancellor’s remarks prompted pushback from several law school faculty members. Law school professors Ahilan Arulanantham and LaToya Baldwin Clark, faculty co-director and director of two of the sponsoring centers respectively, issued a statement on Saturday defending the symposium. They stated they were "enormously proud of the symposium" and that it showcased "a nuanced and sophisticated set of conversations among more than twenty leading experts." They added that critics who had attended would have heard "moving memorials to the victims of the 9/11 attacks and its aftermath."
Other professors also voiced their disagreement with Frenk. Aaron Littman, a UCLA law faculty member, expressed his disappointment on social media, emphasizing that "the rule of law demands that everyone be provided a robust defense." He argued that suggesting inviting such a lawyer reflects an endorsement of their client's deeds is "a threat to democracy." Professor Seana Shiffrin, who attended parts of the symposium, described it as "academically serious" and denied hearing any sympathy for extremism or antisemitism. She noted the discussion included "incredibly moving reminiscences and remembrances of that day," and defended the inclusion of experts in panels on torture and rendition as enhancing academic quality.
However, Judea Pearl, a longtime UCLA computer science professor and the father of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl—whom Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confessed to killing—expressed deep concern. While less focused on Partow's speaking role, Pearl called it "despicable" and "hurtful" that the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) was on the program, accusing the group of being "sympathetic" to 9/11 and Oct. 7 attackers. CAIR, a Muslim civil rights group, disputes these characterizations. Pearl urged the sponsoring centers to find "different dates to engage us with your political sophistry," asking for the 9/11 anniversary to be reserved for prayer and remembrance.
