Oberlin College professor Mohammad Mahallati placed on "indefinite" administrative leave

An Oberlin College professor was placed on administrative leave last week. Religion professor Mohammad Jafar Mahallati was placed on indefinite administrative leave Nov. 28, Oberlin College Director of Media Relations Andrea Simakis confirmed via email on Wednesday. Simakis did not provide any information on why Mahallati was placed on leave. Mahallati could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. Simakis also confirmed the college is cooperating with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights regarding a 2019 complaint of alleged harassment of Jewish students on campus. The college was notified of the complaint on Sept. 29. The complaint was filed by a 1986 Oberlin graduate, Simakis wrote in an email. "Oberlin abhors antisemitism and all forms of hate, discrimination, and harassment," she wrote. "The college works every day to ensure that our campus is safe for all students, faculty, and staff, including those who identify as Jewish. Antisemitism has no place on our campus." Simakis did not say whether the 2019 complaint involves Mahallati. The Chronicle-Telegram has requested a copy of the complaint, and the investigation if it is completed, from the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights. Mahallati has been the subject of several on-campus protests and a recent report by Amnesty International questioning his alleged role in covering up a nearly 35-year-old massacre of political and religious dissidents in Iran. According to previous reporting, Amnesty International's report questioned the role of former Iranian diplomats, including Mahallati, in the prison massacres of 1988. At the time of the massacre, Mahallati served as Iran's permanent representative to the United Nations in New York and allegedly "played a critical role in denying and disseminating misinformation." According to Amnesty International, between July and September 1988 Iranian authorities extrajudicially executed thousands of political prisoners and dumped their bodies in unmarked individual and mass graves. It estimates the minimum death toll at about 5,000. Mahallati was Iran's United Nations representative from 1987 to 1989. Protesters have called for the college to fire Mahallati for his alleged involvement in the massacres. A previous investigation by the college concluded the allegations against Mahallati were unproven and Mahallati has denied them. A page on the college's website dedicated to the controversy, titled "Fact Sheet: Professor Mohammad Jafar Mahallati" has been removed. Mahallati has taught at Oberlin College since 2007 and is the Nancy Schrom Dye Chair in Middle East and North African Studies at Oberlin College. Mahallati previously taught at Columbia, Princeton, Georgetown and Yale universities. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.