College placed associate professor Allyson Friedman on leave as it investigates racist remarks she was heard making during a New York City public school parent council meeting on Zoom earlier this month, the college’s president said.
The decision came after a recording of the meeting spread online and drew condemnation from city and school leaders, along with calls from parent advocates for accountability. Friedman, who is also a parent in Manhattan’s public schools, was caught speaking while a student and other participants were addressing possible school closures and relocations on the city’s Upper West Side. Hunter College President Nancy Cantor said the comments were “abhorrent” and that the college is reviewing the matter under university conduct and nondiscrimination policies, while Friedman issued an apology and said her words were taken out of context.
The remarks were recorded during a Community Education Council District 3 meeting held Feb. 10 as families debated a plan affecting several middle school programs on Manhattan’s West Side. The meeting included students, parents, education officials and community members, with some speakers appearing in person while others joined by video. During the discussion, Friedman could be heard referring to Black students in a way that other participants and city leaders later described as racist and demeaning. The comments included a statement that Black students were “too dumb” to know when they were in a bad school. Friedman also referenced a line she attributed to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., language that educators and community leaders said was both offensive and historically distorted.
Hunter’s action was announced in a message from Cantor to the college community after the incident triggered backlash beyond the school system. In that message, Cantor said the university was investigating under its conduct rules and nondiscrimination policies and that Friedman had been placed on leave while the review continues. Cantor also said counseling and support services were available to any students or employees who might need them. Hunter did not detail how long the leave would last or what discipline could follow, and it did not release a timeline for the investigation’s conclusion.
Friedman is an associate professor in Hunter’s Department of Biological Sciences, where she works in neuroscience and related research, according to her university biography. The incident did not happen in a Hunter classroom, but it quickly became a college issue because Friedman is a university employee and because the comments were made in a public forum connected to school governance in New York City. Community education councils advise the city Education Department on district issues and often serve as a public stage for disputes over budgets, programs and proposed school changes. District 3, which covers parts of Manhattan including the Upper West Side and Harlem, has long been a flashpoint for debates over school access, enrollment and racial inequities.
In a statement carried in news accounts, Friedman said she accidentally unmuted herself and that her comments were not meant as a description of her own beliefs. She said she was trying to explain the concept of systemic racism by using a historical example, and she acknowledged the remarks caused harm. Friedman said she apologized for what she said and for the pain it caused, while insisting the clipped audio circulating online did not reflect her full point. She did not dispute that her voice was on the recording, and she did not publicly provide a full transcript of her complete comments in the accounts shared by media outlets.
City leaders also weighed in as the clip circulated. Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the comments “reprehensible” and said the language reflected the kind of talk that can make students feel they do not belong in the public school system. Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels said district officials would work with school communities to address the harm and support students affected by what they heard. A spokesperson for the city Education Department noted Friedman is not an Education Department employee and is not a parent council member, but officials said the incident was being discussed with the City University of New York, the public system that oversees Hunter.
The meeting where the remarks were recorded was already tense because it involved proposed changes that families say could reshape where children attend school and which programs survive. District leaders have been considering shutting down or relocating certain middle school programs, partly because of low enrollment and shifting student populations. One proposal involved the Community Action School, also known as MS 258, which predominantly serves students of color from lower-income families and has faced the possibility of closure. Another proposal involved moving The Center School, a school where Friedman is a parent, to a new building and changing what grades would be served at a nearby school. Parents, students and teachers have argued that closures and moves can disrupt learning, push students into longer commutes, and deepen divides between schools in the same neighborhood.
Teachers and parent leaders said the comments cut especially deep because they came as students and families were publicly pleading to keep programs open. Lewis St. Victor, a teacher at MS 258, told local reporters that it was painful to hear a student community dismissed in such a way while those students were fighting for their school. Other speakers said the moment became an unwelcome distraction from urgent questions about enrollment, resources and equity. At the same time, some educators said it forced a blunt conversation about bias and the way families and institutions talk about school quality, race and who is seen as worthy of investment.
Outside the meeting room, Black parent leaders and advocates held events and news conferences to condemn what was said and to call for broader action in the school system. Tanesha Grant, executive director of Parents Supporting Parents NY, said the incident reflected anti-Blackness that families say they still confront in school spaces. Some parents and elected officials said Friedman should be fired from her Hunter College job. Leaders connected to The Center School also issued statements distancing their community from the remarks, saying the comments did not represent their values and that racism is not distant but present in daily life.
Hunter College has not released details about what evidence it will review, but investigations of this type often examine recordings, written complaints, workplace policies and any prior history relevant to conduct rules. The case leaves open several questions that neither the college nor the city has answered publicly, including whether Friedman will face additional discipline beyond leave, whether she will keep her position, and what standards the university will apply when judging comments made outside of her formal duties. It also remains unclear whether any school governance body will impose sanctions related to her role as a district parent who participated in the council meeting.
As of Thursday, Hunter said Friedman remained on leave while the investigation continued, and district officials said they planned further outreach to school communities as they move forward with decisions about school closures and relocations raised at the Feb. 10 meeting.
Author note: Last updated February 26, 2026.