It's hard to keep the lid on - Part 9 (and now it's off)

Blog readers may recall the case of award-winning Prof. Priyanga Amarasekare which was tracked on this blog under the heading, "It's hard to keep the lid on." She was suspended as a tenured faculty member and subject to other penalties, although - despite significant attention on campus - exactly what had occurred or was occurring was never clear.

When we posted about the agenda of the January 20-21, 2026 Regents meetings, we noted an item about dismissal of a faculty member from UCLA to be heard in open session. Although tenured faculty who are up for dismissal have the right to appeal to the Regents, and to have an open session, most cases are quietly settled without such appeals and appeals in open session are extremely rare. 

It was not known at the time we posted the preliminary agenda for the Regents - or until now - who the individual targeted for dismissal was. It turned out to be Prof. Amarasekare. Ironically, also on the January agenda was an item aimed at speeding up the process of faculty discipline.

Prof. Amarasekare did not appear at the open hearing on the morning of January 21. No lawyer representing her appeared or was referenced at the open session. However, there was reference over a year ago to litigation, so the Regents' decision may not be the final step in this affair.

Our past coverage can be found at the links below:

https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2021/04/ucla-faculty-win-8-guggenheim.html; https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2023/01/its-hard-to-keep-lid-on.html; https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2023/01/its-hard-to-keep-lid-on-part-2.html; https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2023/02/its-hard-to-keep-lid-on-part-3.html;https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2023/03/its-hard-to-keep-lid-on-part-4.html;https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2023/09/its-hard-to-keep-lid-on-part-5.html;https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2023/10/its-hard-to-keep-lid-on-part-6.html; https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2024/03/its-hard-to-keep-lid-on-part-7-national.html; https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2024/10/its-hard-to-keep-lid-on-part-8.html. 

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The open Regents hearing is at: (just under 20 minutes)

Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgAmZMAXvR0.

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Note: We will cover other parts of the the January Regents as time permits.