MESA Board Statement concerning the detention of Dr. Vahid Abedini
MESA has issued a statement expressing deep concern over the detention of Dr. Abedini, a MESA member.
Letters and Statements from the Board
MESA-AAUP Joint Letter Concerning H-IB Visa Petitions
Joint letter with AAUP following the September 19, 2025, Presidential Proclamation imposing $100,000 fee on employers filing H-1B petitions.
MESA Joint Statement of the Board, Task Force on Civil and Human Rights and Committee on Academic Freedom concerning 2025 Travel Bans
Joint statement from the MESA Board, Task Force, and CAF to follow-up on the June 16 Advisory concerning the latest iteration of the Trump administration’s travel bans.
MESA Board Joint Letter with CAF to University of Utah
MESA expresses grave concern regarding the University of Utah’s signing on 19 May 2025 of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Ariel University, located in the illegal Israeli settlement of Ariel in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The University of Utah has become the first American academic institution to sign a major formal cooperation deal with Ariel University, the establishment of which constituted a violation of international law. This egregious agreement is also in violation of international law, and comes after months of intensified Israeli violence against and repression of Palestinian universities in the West Bank and its destruction of all the institutions of higher learning in Gaza.
Advisory on Travel Ban and Annual Meeting Accommodations from the MESA Board of Directors and the Task Force on Civil and Human Rights
Joint statement from the MESA Board and Task Force regarding the new travel ban, and the steps that MESA is taking in response.
MESA Board Joint Statement with the TFCHR regarding visa revocations
The MESA Board of Directors and its Task Force on Civil and Human Rights call on all U.S. universities and colleges to recognize the Trump administration’s reversal of the unlawful mass visa revocations that have terrorized international students and scholars in recent weeks. We urge campus administrations to immediately inform their communities and recent alumni that international students and scholars remain legally entitled to stay in the United States. Termination of a SEVIS record does not affect a student's lawful status inside the U.S.
MESA Board Joint Statement with the TFCHR regarding deportations
The MESA Board of Directors and its Task Force on Civil and Human Rights condemn in the strongest terms the Trump administration’s targeting of noncitizen students and researchers for their constitutionally protected speech and advocacy. We call on our members and colleagues to ask their university and college administrations to take a number of steps to ensure that they are protecting their campus communities.
Joint Statement regarding Columbia University and the Department of Education
MESA and the undersigned associations condemn the actions taken in the past weeks at Columbia University and the Department of Education, which imperil the autonomy of centers for regional study at universities across the United States and the future of area studies as a domain of scholarship and research in American higher education.
MESA Board Statement on the repression of academic freedom in the United States
In the current national climate, as institutions of higher education and their mission of critical inquiry face unprecedented attack, MESA unequivocally supports efforts to stand up for freedom of expression, academic freedom, and institutional autonomy. Rather than facilitating or acting in the interests of government repression, we must all take a collective stance to defend higher education in the United States.
MESA Board Joint Statement with CAF Concerning the Impact of the Israeli Military Campaign on Education in Lebanon
The MESA Board of Directors and its Committee on Academic Freedom register our profound concern regarding the interruption of education and the damage to Lebanese educational facilities as a result of the intensified Israeli military campaign which began in September 2024. The attacks in Lebanon, including on educational facilities and their environs, are direct infringements on the right to education as well as on academic freedom. We express solidarity with our colleagues in Lebanon and urge international organizations to support Lebanese institutions as they resume their important activities and rebuild their sector.
MESA Board Joint Letter With CAF condemning the decimation of the education sector in Gaza
The Board of Directors of the Middle East Studies Association and its Committee on Academic Freedom vehemently condemn the government of Israel’s brutal military campaign against the Palestinian people of Gaza and urgently insist upon its immediate cessation. This letter focuses on the decimation of the education sector in the Gaza Strip through the military’s killing of students, faculty, and staff and its targeted destruction of schools, university buildings, and related facilities. We are especially concerned to underscore the magnitude of the decimation by identifying by name and affiliation as many of the murdered Gazan scholars as is possible at this time.
Joint Letter to Iranian Authorities from BRISMES, SeSaMO and MESA
The Committees on Academic Freedom of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES), the Italian Society for Middle East Studies (SeSaMO), and the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) have written a statement to express concern about the persistent violations of academic freedom, including freedom of research and teaching, and freedom of expression in Iran over the past two years.
Endorsement of SEMOMM statement regarding François Burgat
Our statement endorsing SEMOMM regarding the recent arrest and interrogation of the world-renowned scholar François Burgat.
MESA Board Joint Statement with CAF updating and responding to campus repression
The Board of Directors of the Middle East Studies Association and its Committee on Academic Freedom decry in the strongest of terms the growing number of cases of colleges and universities calling on police to repress campus protests against the ongoing genocide in Gaza. We also deplore actions and statements from officials that seek to delegitimize student and faculty activists and their criticism of the war.
MESA Board Joint Statement with CAF concerning escalating repression of protest on campuses
The MESA Board of Directors and its Committee on Academic Freedom view with alarm the attempts to intimidate, repress, and criminalize campus protests against the ongoing Israeli state violence against Palestinians. We call upon college and university boards of trustees, presidents, and administrations across the country immediately to clearly and forcefully recommit themselves to the freedom of inquiry, expression, and protest on campus that have been pillars of the US academy for decades.
MESA Board Joint Statement with CAF regarding the ongoing genocidal violence against the Palestinian people and their cultural heritage in Gaza
The Board of Directors of the Middle East Studies Association and its Committee on Academic Freedom condemn in the strongest possible terms the ongoing attack on Gaza by the state of Israel, resulting in the widespread destruction of the built environment and civilian infrastructure of the Gaza Strip with the apparent intention of erasing Palestinian heritage, thereby amounting to cultural genocide.
Open Letter to US and Canadian College and University Presidents
MESA's Board of Directors and Committee on Academic Freedom call upon college and university presidents throughout North America to redouble efforts to protect the free speech rights and defend the academic freedom of all members of their campus communities.
MESA Board Letter to Biden Administration on Ceasefire in Gaza
Letter on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America calling on the Biden administration to support an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire in — and lifting of the siege on — Gaza.
MESA Board Statement on Palestine and Israel
The MESA Board of Directors is heartbroken by the loss of Israeli and Palestinian lives over the last week. There can be no justification for the targeting of civilians. We join our members directly affected in grief, and we join all who are committed to a political solution that offers safety, dignity, and equal rights for Palestinians and Israelis. We are deeply concerned about the cumulative effect of the Israeli siege and bombardment of Gaza, resulting in massive death, displacement and destruction — including the bombing of schools and universities — imperiling, among many other things, the possibility of access to education for generations of Gazan students indefinitely. We also reaffirm the right and ability of students, faculty, and staff at universities across North America (and elsewhere) to express their viewpoints free of harassment, intimidation, and threats to their livelihoods and safety. MESA calls on university leaders and administrations to oppose all forms of discrimination, including anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism and anti-Semitism, and to affirmatively assert and protect the right to academic freedom and freedom of speech on their campuses.
Joint letter from BRISMES, SeSaMO and MESA to Israeli authorities regarding Khaled El Qaisi
The Italian Society for Middle East Studies (SeSaMO), the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES) and the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) have written to express concern for the detained Italian-Palestinian student Khaled El Qaisi. SeSaMO, BRISMES and MESA call upon the relevant authorities to intervene to ensure his immediate release.
ACLS Statement on SCOTUS Ruling on Affirmative Action
MESA has endorsed a statement from the ACLS emphasizing a continued commitment to diversity in American higher education, after the Supreme Court of the United States recently ruled against race-conscious admissions programs at colleges and universities.
MESA Comment on proposed MENA US Census category
In response to a Notice by the Office of Management and Budget regarding Initial Proposals for Updating Race and Ethnicity Statistical Standards, MESA submitted a formal comment wholeheartedly supporting the inclusion of the new Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) category as a checkbox on the United States Census questionnaire.
ACLS Statement Regarding the Effort to Undermine Academic Freedom in Florida House Bill 999
MESA has endorsed a statement from the ACLS regarding a new bill proposed in the Florida legislature (HB 999), which is a frontal attack on the principles of academic freedom. If it passes, it would effectively end academic freedom in the state’s public colleges and universities, with dire consequences for their teaching, research, and financial well-being.
AAUP statement regarding Florida bill that would destroy higher education as we know it
MESA has endorsed a statement from the AAUP regarding Florida HB 999, which poses a dire threat to higher education and to academic freedom.
ACLS Statement in Support of Academic Freedom and New College of Florida
MESA has endorsed a statement from the ACLS in support of the New College community as well as faculty and students at other institutions of higher education experiencing similar political interventions.