Minnesota Professor Stirs Furor With Call to ‘Dismantle’ United States

University of Minnesota professor Melanie Yazzie told attendees at the Socialism 2025 conference that she "hope[s] you seek to dismantle the United States," according to video clips that began circulating on 5 July. Yazzie delivered the remark while wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh, a symbol that critics say has taken on new political weight after the 10 October Hamas attack on Israel. The comment drew swift rebukes from conservative commentators, who questioned why taxpayers underwrite institutions where faculty endorse the country’s collapse. The University of Minnesota received about $628 million from the U.S. Department of Education in 2024, according to federal data cited by critics. Yazzie’s remarks were part of a broader pattern of militant rhetoric at the conference. Former Drexel lecturer Geo Maher, now affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania, and University of Houston professor David McNally each described revolution that excludes the existing state, with McNally asserting that “popular self-defense … is not the same thing as the violence of the oppressor.” The episode has reignited debate over academic freedom, donor influence and the limits of political advocacy on publicly funded campuses.