The Assault on Academic Freedom: From Classroom to Death Threats
A Global Centre for Advanced Studies Perspective
October 2025
The Scholar as Enemy
Academic freedom faces its gravest threat in decades. In a revealing interview with Democracy Now!'s Amy Goodman, Rutgers historian Mark Bray—author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook—described how he was forced to flee the United States with his family after receiving death threats. His supposed offense? Writing a scholarly examination of anti-fascist movements and defending the right to oppose fascism.
After being designated a security threat following an executive order labeling antifa as a "domestic terrorist organization," Bray experienced firsthand what happens when intellectual inquiry collides with authoritarian impulses: death threats from online provocateurs, mysteriously canceled flights, and federal interrogation at airports. His experience, as documented by Goodman, serves as a warning: the line between scholarship and sedition is being deliberately erased.
The Machinery of Intimidation
What makes Bray's case particularly alarming isn't merely the harassment—it's the apparent mobilization of state resources against an academic. This represents something far more sinister than isolated incidents of censorship. We're witnessing the systematic transformation of dissent into danger, of critique into crime.
The executive order itself rests on a fundamental misrepresentation. As Bray explains, antifa isn't an organization but a historical stance against fascism—one that dates back to the 1920s resistance movements in Europe. By criminalizing anti-fascism, authorities create a dangerous precedent: opposition to authoritarianism becomes authoritarianism's first target.
Historical Parallels, Contemporary Warnings
In her interview with Professor Bray, Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman drew a powerful historical parallel, recalling the Abraham Lincoln Brigade—Americans who volunteered to fight fascism in Spain during the 1930s. As Goodman noted, these volunteers returned home only to be blacklisted as "premature anti-fascists," punished for recognizing fascism's danger before their government acknowledged it.
This historical echo, highlighted in Goodman's conversation with Bray, resonates powerfully today. Contemporary academics who identify and critique authoritarian trends find themselves labeled as threats to national security. The language has evolved—from "premature anti-fascists" to "domestic terrorists"—but the mechanism remains unchanged: transform moral clarity into criminal liability.
The Global Crisis of Knowledge
This assault extends far beyond individual cases. Universities worldwide face unprecedented pressure to conform to political orthodoxy:
United States: Entire academic departments prohibited from teaching critical race theory and gender studies
Hungary: The Central European University forced into exile after government crackdowns
India: Professors imprisoned for supporting student demonstrations
United Kingdom: Universities threatened with funding cuts for insufficient "patriotism"
These aren't isolated incidents but coordinated efforts to transform centers of learning into instruments of ideological control. When Timothy Snyder, Jason Stanley, and Mark Bray—leading scholars of authoritarianism—feel compelled to leave their own country, we must recognize this as a crisis not just of academia but of democracy itself.
The Criminalization of Conscience
Attorney General Pam Bondi's recent comparison of antifa protesters to drug cartels represents a dangerous escalation in rhetoric. When government officials invoke military language against citizens exercising political speech, they abandon the fundamental distinction between dissent and violence that democracy requires.
This rhetoric serves a purpose: it prepares the public to accept extraordinary measures against ordinary citizens. History teaches us where this leads—from Kent State to COINTELPRO, from McCarthy's blacklists to today's no-fly lists and harassment campaigns. Each era finds new ways to silence those who refuse to be silent.
GCAS: Building Resilient Academic Communities
At the Global Centre for Advanced Studies, we recognize that defending academic freedom requires more than words—it demands action and infrastructure. Our vision of a debt-free, cooperative, borderless university represents both a practical alternative and a philosophical stance: knowledge must remain independent of political pressure and economic coercion.
Our Commitments:
Sanctuary for Scholars: We provide institutional support for academics facing political persecution, offering platforms for their work to continue despite external pressures.
Fostering Critical Dialogue: We create spaces where controversial ideas can be examined rigorously, free from the polarization and censorship infecting traditional academic institutions.
Democratic Education: We equip students with the tools to recognize propaganda, understand historical patterns of repression, and defend intellectual freedom.
The Stakes Could Not Be Higher
As Professor Bray told Amy Goodman in their Democracy Now! interview: "Whether or not you consider yourself an anti-fascist, anyone who critiques Trump is potentially in the crosshairs here." This isn't hyperbole—it's pattern recognition from a scholar who has studied these movements for years.
Goodman's platform has consistently highlighted how today's targeting of "antifa" serves as a test case. How much repression will the public accept? How far can authorities go before encountering resistance? The answers to these questions will determine whether tomorrow's targets include journalists documenting corruption, artists challenging orthodoxy, or citizens questioning policy.
A College Without Borders, A Future Without Fear
GCAS stands at the intersection of education and resistance. Our model—cooperative, international, accessible—offers more than an alternative to traditional higher education. It provides a blueprint for intellectual communities that can survive and thrive despite authoritarian pressure.
In an era when knowledge itself becomes suspect, when teaching history becomes "indoctrination," when scholarly analysis becomes "terrorism," the very act of maintaining spaces for free inquiry becomes revolutionary.
The Choice Before Us
Democracy requires disagreement. Education requires questioning. Freedom requires the courage to think differently. These aren't abstract principles but practical necessities for any society that hopes to solve complex problems and adapt to change.
The assault on academic freedom isn't just an attack on professors—it's an attack on the possibility of progress itself. When we silence scholars, we silence the future. When we criminalize critique, we guarantee stagnation. When we fear knowledge, we embrace ignorance.
At GCAS, we choose differently. We choose curiosity over conformity, dialogue over dogma, courage over capitulation. We invite all who value intellectual freedom to join us in building educational institutions worthy of democratic ideals.
The defense of academic freedom isn't an academic exercise—it's the foundation upon which all other freedoms rest. Without the right to think, teach, and learn freely, democracy becomes merely a word, emptied of meaning and stripped of power.
To watch Amy Goodman's full interview with Professor Mark Bray on Democracy Now!, visit: "Professor Mark Bray Flees U.S. After Trump Declares Antifa a Terrorist Organization" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYlvxpMBHX0)
About GCAS: The Global Centre for Advanced Studies (GCAS College Dublin) is building the world's first debt-free, cooperative, borderless and accredited institution of higher education—a space where knowledge serves humanity, not profit or politics.