Rutgers Chancellor Launches Security Review Amid ‘Dr Antifa’ Controversy

Rutgers University’s chancellor said the Ivy League institution is committed to academic freedom and will launch a security review and “academic freedom” task force amid the ongoing controversy surrounding Antifa-aligned professor Mark Bray.

“I am writing today to reaffirm Rutgers University’s unwavering commitment to academic freedom and freedom of expression — values ​​that define a great research university and underpin our mission of discovery, dialogue and public engagement,” Rutgers Chancellor Francine Conway wrote in a statement received. Fox News Digital.

“Incidents of ‘doxxing’ and harassment of faculty members raise deep concerns in our community,” Conway wrote. “I want to express my support for any member of our community who has been targeted for their scholarship.”

The Rutgers Turning Point USA chapter named the professor ‘Dr. petitioned to be fired as antifa

Rutgers University’s chancellor said the Ivy League institution is committed to academic freedom and will launch a security review and “academic freedom” task force amid the ongoing controversy surrounding Antifa-aligned professor Mark Bray. (Isaiah Vazquez/Getty Images, AP Photo/Ted Shaffre)

member of Rutgers earlier this month Turning Point USA lesson Petition started to fire Assistant Teaching Professor Mark Bray, citing concerns about his past statements supporting Antifa.

Bray, who recently announced he was moving his family to Europe “for safety reasons” and said he had been doxed and “received multiple death threats”, has expressed strong support for “antifascism” in previous online posts.

he is the author”Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, which openly calls for “anti-terrorist anti-fascism”. The book states that “at least 50 percent of the author’s earnings will go to the International Anti-Fascist Defense Fund, which is managed by more than three hundred Antifas in eighteen countries.”

On its website, the International Anti-Fascist Defense Fund says it has “provided more than $250,000 USD to more than 800 anti-fascists in 26 different countries.”

‘Dr. Antifa’ Rutgers professor announces move to Europe after Tpusa petition calls for his firing

The beautiful seaside town and natural bay of Calle de Palafrugell on Catalonia’s Costa Brava. (L) Mark Bray, Rutgers assistant professor of history, waits in a hotel room in Newark, NJ before a scheduled flight to Spain on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey; iStock)

In her statement, Conway said she has directed Rutgers’ police chief and chief information technology officer to review protocols for physical and digital security on campus.

“Therefore, I want to express in the strongest possible terms, not only my personal disgust with doxing and the practice of bullying our faculty and students, but also the university’s commitment to protecting the safety of our faculty, students, and staff from the public dissemination of their personal information.”

Conway said officials would assess existing systems and “record any additional recommendations” to strengthen defenses.

She asked Rutgers’ faculty council to review academic freedom “in light of current challenges.”

“Freedom of speech and academic freedom do not protect any of us from dissent or criticism,” Conway wrote. “At Rutgers, we encourage open and robust debate – even on the most controversial topics. However, the appropriate response to the speech we oppose is more speech, not actions that threaten or endanger the personal safety of others.”

Megyn Doyle, a student at Rutgers and treasurer of the Turning Point USA chapter, told Fox News Digital in an interview that Conway’s statement was “a clear defense of Mark Bray and his affiliation with Antifa. The statement aims to support academic freedom, free speech, and open debate, while Mark Bray has recorded his book, The Antifascist Handbook, ‘Calls for Political Violence and Affiliation’ As does Antifa, he has repeatedly shown hostility toward conservatives.”

Doyle added that “if Rutgers truly aims to protect academic freedom, free speech, and open debate, it should hold Mark Bray to the same standard.”

“Defending a professor who aims to appease conservatives completely undermines Chancellor Conway’s statement,” Doyle said. “Therefore, we call on Rutgers to take immediate action and end its professional relationship with Mark Bray.”

Ava Kwan, outreach coordinator for the Turning Point USA chapter, told Fox News Digital that Rutgers is “whitewashing Bray’s call for ‘preemptive violence’ against racists as ‘scholarship.’

“Turning Point’s protected right to solicit its financing and solicitation of terrorists is not the same,” Kwan added. “They are running a cover for the radical left and burying any mention of the doxxing campaign against my family!”

Kwan has said she has been doxxed on platforms like Reddit.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Rutgers for comment.

Rutgers student government demands university defend antifa-aligned professor who fled country

On its website, the International Anti-Fascist Defense Fund says it has “provided more than $250,000 USD to more than 800 anti-fascists in 26 different countries.” (Thomas Patterson/AFP/Getty Images)

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