When a Professor’s Activism Crosses a Line
When a Professor’s Activism Crosses a Line: A Call for Accountability at UNT
The University of North Texas has become a flashpoint for tensions over Israel, antisemitism, and academic activism. In recent years, one faculty member in particular, Professor Deb Armintor, has taken on highly visible roles in student organizations and political causes that many in the Jewish community see as hostile to Israel — and, by extension, to Jewish students.
Professor Armintor, a member of UNT’s English faculty, serves as the Dallas president of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), an organization that has been widely criticized for its rejection of Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. She also acts as faculty advisor to UNT’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) chapters — both of which have hosted events and posted materials that many Jewish students experience as threatening or exclusionary.
These are not fringe groups. They are well-organized, well-funded, and active on college campuses across the country. Having a faculty member endorse or advise them gives their message institutional weight and legitimacy.
Over the past year, I’ve witnessed how her influence has shaped student attitudes and discussions around Israel. Some students report feeling uncomfortable expressing pride in their Jewish identity or support for Israel in her classes. Others say they feel pressure to adopt anti-Israel viewpoints to fit in with the campus climate.
Professors have every right to personal beliefs and political expression. But when a faculty member’s activism crosses into the classroom — when it silences or intimidates Jewish students — it becomes a matter of campus safety and equity.
This isn’t an isolated problem at UNT. Across the country, we are seeing Jewish professors and activists who identify as “anti-Zionist Jews” being used as cover to legitimize antisemitic rhetoric. The phrase “as a Jew” has become a tool for excusing or amplifying hostility toward Israel — even as Jewish students on campus face escalating harassment and exclusion.
Professor Armintor often references her family’s Holocaust history in her activism, framing her stance as one rooted in empathy for the “oppressed.” Whether speaking on behalf of the East Plano Islamic Community, or SJP – Armintor consistently uses language and rhetoric accusing Israel of genocide, while failing to educate on the true meaning of genocide. Her empathy of those she believes to be oppressed by Israel or Jewish people translates into demonizing her own community. Armintor has not only perverted the Holocaust studies curriculum at UNT, but she has repeatedly supported and endorsed movements that call for the end of the world’s only Jewish state, raising very difficult moral and academic questions.
The administration at UNT must take a clear-eyed look at what is happening on campus. Academic freedom does not mean academic endorsement of hate. When faculty activism includes rewriting history, and compromises the respect, and safety for students of a particular background leadership must act — not to silence debate, but to ensure fairness and integrity in the classroom.
UNT has the opportunity to set an example for other Texas universities: to protect the right to academic expression while drawing a firm line against antisemitism, no matter how it’s packaged.
The Jewish community of North Texas should not ignore what’s unfolding in our own backyard. Our students deserve classrooms that are based on factual history that challenges them intellectually rather than promoting personal ideology. They deserve professors who encourage critical thought — not political conformity.
It’s time to ask hard questions of those shaping young minds at our universities. The future of Jewish life on all campuses depends on it.
