Both scholar and activist, NYU Professor Andrew Ross also became the center of a media storm this March when he was denied entry into the UAE at Kennedy International Airport in New York. The incident, heavily publicized by media outlets in the USA, has since prompted a student appeal, a written response from Provost David McLaughlin and a response-to-the-response by Ross, who emphasized that he found the university’s reaction to be inadequate.

“I must say I was surprised by [your letter’s] formality,” wrote Ross to McLaughlin. “And also that no one in the administration has extended to me any gesture of support. Things used to be different here at NYU.”

Shortly afterwards, President John Sexton made a semi-public statement about the travel ban in a University Senate meeting on March 26.

“These are not our decisions to make, but they are decisions in which we press,” he said.

Trailing Sexton’s comment were reports that a private investigator, named Loren Berger, had been soliciting information about Ross. Berger had called a former colleague of Ross’ and also looked into a New York Times reporter who had written previously about UAE labor issues. It is unknown who the investigator is working for, and an NYU spokesperson denied any knowledge of their work.

On the Saadiyat Campus, the escalating timeline of events has been recounted both online and offline by the NYU Abu Dhabi community, for whom the incident involves much larger conversations about academic freedom and the university’s legacy. As they continue to probe the issue, students survey articles and post comments, lobbing definitions and distinctions across newsfeeds and group discussions; many have expressed disappointment at the media’s coverage.

NYU Local, a student-run blog that covers the university, recently sat down with Ross for an interview. In the ensuing article, Ross alleged that “labor rights, democracy, and sexuality are off limits” at NYUAD, yet all three topics are protected under the university’s umbrella of academic freedom and are frequently discussed in classes. The writer of the article also stated that Ross had been prevented from entering “the Abu Dhabi campus,” which some students thought to be misleading language. Ross's purpose for the trip had not been to visit the campus, and he had not contacted faculty or administration at NYUAD prior to departure.

“It would be extreme to say I’m directly affected by it,” said junior Isabelle Galet-Lalande. “But it is worrying to hear your university getting such a [bad] name in the media, when you know it’s not entirely warranted. I know how hard professors work here to make classes open-minded.”

Despite any perceived media gaffes, for some on campus, the travel ban is still dismaying. One faculty member was quoted anonymously in The Chronicle of Higher Education, saying, “It does make me less confident in NYU’s ability to guarantee our freedom of research and of expression."

Ross believes that much of the danger for NYUAD faculty lies in the possibility of self-censorship.

“If I were a faculty person in Abu Dhabi I would … feel a lot less secure,” said Ross. “For faculty and students to get into that kind of mindset is very fatal, for any academic enterprise.”

Ross thinks that the university’s response should be twofold: the travel ban should be revoked and the UAE government should issue a public statement in assurance that no faculty from NYU will be barred from entry again.

Beyond administrative measures, however, Ross stressed that he will be looking to the Abu Dhabi campus as a critical component of the university's response; reactions among the community will be telling of the university's future stance towards academic freedom.

“How do [NYUAD] students respond to something like this? How do faculty respond to something like this?” he said. “A lot will depend on that.”

Among the NYUAD community, much discussion has hinged on a perceived distinction between academic freedom within institutional walls and freedom of political expression without.

Associate Vice Chancellor of Global Programs Josh Taylor, who used to work on the Abu Dhabi campus as associate vice chancellor of its Public Affairs department, had discussed academic freedom extensively with faculty during his time there; he, too, saw a key difference between classroom and public speech.

“Governments define the extent to which they wish to regulate expression, and just because someone is a member of a university community, when it comes to their non-academic activities, they are not living in a bubble impervious to local laws, cultures, and customs,” wrote Taylor to The Gazelle, adding that, within university walls, NYUAD faculty and classes are free from interference.

Roger Friedland, a professor of Social Research and Public Policy, had taught at NYUAD in several classes on the relation between love, sex and religion, a constellation of topics that can be taboo even in the USA.

“Ross’ exclusion violates our sense of academic freedom,” wrote Friedland to The Gazelle. “On the other hand, I think NYUAD can, has and will push the frontiers on what is legitimate to study.”

“As for my own experience at NYUAD … nobody ever asked me, or even intimated that I teach in a particular way. It was the greatest teaching experience of my life,” added Friedland.

Ross had been traveling to the UAE in order to conduct field research on its labor conditions. As the debate churns on at Saadiyat Campus, students diverge in their perception of the ban as violating different freedoms, whether it's academic pursuit, public speech or mobility. Some say Ross' research had been independent of his university role, and therefore the ban is not a matter of academic freedom; others point to the US, which has enacted similar travel bans on academics attempting to enter the country.

“I just find it amusing that the New York Times has hedged this entire [incident] on NYU, and as a matter of freedom of speech institutionally, when I feel like [Ross’s] very much in this case operating as an independent researcher,” said one NYUAD student, who wished to remain anonymous.

The student added, however, that it is difficult to separate Ross as a professor from Ross as a researcher and advocate.

Ross defines much of his work as advocacy research, in that it looks at communities where members may not have the voices or resources to defend their rights. As the president of the local chapter of the AAUP in New York, he says that speech outside the walls of the university is protected under academic freedom.

“In fact, [extramural speech] is a test of those principles, because part of our duty and obligation as a profession is to share our knowledge and opinions with the public,” he said.

Kristina Bogos, a senior at NYU, spent half a year at NYUAD while the Saadiyat campus construction project was underway. During her time there, she felt that topics of workers' rights and labor compliance at NYUAD remained taboo outside of the classroom.

“That is a reason why I carried out my own research on the topic and decided to visit one of the labor camps,” said Bogos. “As a student who would like to return to the region to conduct additional research on these subjects, I shouldn't have to contemplate whether or not I will be allowed back in to do so; and that my academic interests are suddenly unacceptable and off limits.”

Bogos echoed Ross in saying that the ban has larger implications on academic freedom within the entire university network.

“It is also important to acknowledge all of the implications of this travel ban … How can we, as students, continue learning about the kafala system and other issues of migrant labor when our own faculty are barred from entering the UAE to carry out such research?” she said.

“[Ross’s] research, regardless of who commissioned it, is integral to his role within the university and the NYU's mission — to be a top quality, international center for scholarship, teaching and research — and to allow its students to engage in critical thinking both inside and outside of the classroom,” added Bogos.