As Yudelman prepares to join his new UATX home, the world is eager to hear his side of the story. McKenna Conlin sits with Yudelman for an exclusive interview to hear the lead up to his viral encounter, his perception of the day, and all the following repercussions.
In May of 2024, a video of Jonathan Yudelman at a Pro-Israel rally on ASU’s Tempe campus went viral. While just under a minute, the video shows Yudelman having a tense confrontation with a young woman in a hijab. If that sounds vague, watch the video and you’ll find there’s very little other information in the brief clip.
The recording quickly achieved national internet attention, and Yudelman’s life was promptly upturned. Before this, Yudelman was a postdoctoral researcher in political philosophy at ASU. In the weeks after, ASU put him under investigation, his house was doxed, his past and present colleagues were confronted with emails, and calls for his firing came flooding in.
Yudelman had just signed a contract with the University of Austin to come on as an Assistant Professor of Political Theory when the video went viral. The question of Yudelman’s position at the university has been resolved by a recent public disciplinary report which confirms that he will be teaching in his full capacity during the Spring of 2025.
Conlin questions Yudelman in this interview about the day of the encounter and more broadly about what it means for his position at UATX. This is Yudelman’s first second impression with his new UATX community, this is his side of the story.
The words above were written by editor Corban Fikes.
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