UC Berkeley takes fire after extra credit offered in class for attending pro-Palestinian student 'walkout'

A University of California-Berkeley graduate student offered extra credit to students if they attended a student "walkout" in support of Gaza, according to a screenshot posted to social media, leading the university to respond after a firestorm of criticism erupted.

"We're offering a field trip and/or extra credit opportunity: (1) Students can attend the national student walkout tomorrow against the settler-colonial occupation of Gaza (info attached below) OR (2) Students can watch a short documentary on Palestine and call/email your local California representative using this linktree," the email from graduate assistant Victoria Huynh said, according to a screenshot posted to social media. 

The email said either option would count as a "field trip or an extra 5 points." Huynh leads a class called "Asian American Communities and Race Relations." The screen shotted message concluded the class would discuss "Palestinian history in relation to class concepts like colonialism, imperialism, and Third World solidarity."

There are multiple Instagram posts on UC Berkeley's "Bears for Palestine" account promoting a walkout "against genocide, settler-colonialism & the siege on Gaza" on Wednesday. "End the siege on Gaza now," one post reads. 

A sign for The University of California-Berkeley.  (Circle-(Photo by Vincent Ricci/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) Main- (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images))

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UC Berkeley's Assistant Vice Chancellor at the Office of Communications and Public Affairs Dan Mogulof told Fox News Digital that the university moved quickly to ensure the options would be "changed."

"The situation has been remedied, the assignment has been changed and there are now a number of options for extra credit, not just one," he said. 

When asked about the updated assignment, Mogulof said the students can now attend any local event they want that was relevant to the course's subject. 

"Students can attend any local event they wish—such as a book talk or a panel discussion----related to the course’s subject…or they can watch any documentary they wish about the Middle East," he said.

Protesters in support of Israel and Palestinians rally on college campuses.  ((Getty Images))

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Mogulof could not comment on the specific student involved but said that the university responds swiftly to violations of policy. 

"The university responds quickly to violations of policy and is committed to imposing appropriate consequences when policy is violated," he told Fox News Digital. 

The student who appeared to send the email did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Critics took to social media to call out the move and some pointed out that they did not initially appear to offer an option for an event that supported Israel. 

 A pedestrian walks by a sign in front of the U.C. Berkeley campus on July 22, 2020 in Berkeley, California.  ((Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images))

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"Academic freedom absolutely does *not* entail professors giving students better grades for parroting their political point of view," The Atlantic's Yascha Mounk wrote on X. 

Others called it "antisemitic indoctrination." 

"Extra class credit for walking out of class as an act of solidarity with Hamas' terrorist aims of eradicating the world's only Jewish state," Joel Griffith, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, wrote.

Executive Vice President at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) Nico Perrino said the organization has "long opposed this sort of compelled speech."

"It's one thing to ask a student to engage in the academic exercise of arguing a position they might not agree with in class (i.e. devil's advocacy). It's another thing entirely to make student grades contingent on going out into the public square to seek policy outcomes supportive of the position," he wrote on X.

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Students at George Washington University attended a pro-Palestinian vigil Tuesday evening and prominently projected pro-Palestinian messages on the wall of a campus library.

"Glory to Our Martyrs," one projected sign read.

Other pro-Palestinian student groups at colleges and universities across the U.S. have engaged in protests, walkouts and other demonstrations following Hamas' terrorist attack against Israel.

Students gather in the Dertouzos Amphitheater at the Stata Center of M.I.T. to show support for the Palestinian people. (Fox News Digital/Kassy Dillon)

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Fox News' Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.

Hanna Panreck is an associate editor at Fox News.