After a long awaited arbitration result since December, a Monday California Faculty Association statement stated an arbitrator determined Sang Hea Kil should be reinstated as a professor at San José State after initially facing termination last fall for university policy violations.

The CFA said they have represented Kil for almost two years, including during investigative meetings, appealing to a faculty hearing committee and representing Kil’s arbitration. 

“CFA is committed to academic freedom for all faculty, and we could not let such an administrative overreach go unchallenged,” the statement said. 

The arbitrator’s full ruling concluded that rather than a termination, Kil should rather face a one-month unpaid suspension. This was after SJSU President Cynthia Teniente-Matson’s disagreement with the November 2025 faculty hearing committee decision. 

On Oct. 24, 2025, a faculty hearing committee gathered online to oversee Kil’s suspension and discuss a conclusion to whether she breached conduct or policies during a series of spring 2024 incidents, according to a Oct. 29, 2025 Spartan Daily article. 

Previously, a faculty hearing committee concluded that no discipline was warranted for Kil, to which Teniente-Matson disagreed because of existing California State University and SJSU policy violations.

Violations included SJSU policy S99-8, CSU Executive Order 1098 and the CSU Time, Place and Manner policy, according to a Dec. 4, 2025 Spartan Daily article. 

Prior to her dismissal, Kil was a full-time tenured SJSU professor and member of the Justice Studies department. 

“WE WON!!! ARBITRATION HEARING RULED FOR ME! I WILL BE REINSTATED. FOR PALESTINE!!! FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA!,” Kil wrote on her Instagram.

This is an ongoing investigation regarding Dr. Sang Hea Kil’s final decision. The Spartan Daily will update the grievance process and arbitration results in another article.