Who Is Marie Cruz Soto?
Marie Cruz Soto is a Clinical Associate Professor at NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, where she teaches on imperialism, decolonization, and militarism. She’s also a repeat signatory on anti-Israel resolutions and Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine letters dating back to 2016. That’s not a smear — it’s her own signature, in her own name, with her own title attached.
What Is Marie Cruz Soto’s Record With Anti-Israel Resolutions and FSJP?
The paper trail and the network are the same story here. Cruz Soto’s name appears on formal resolutions and open letters, and it also turns up inside FSJP’s own national communications — which is a step beyond casual affiliation. This is the documented record:
- December 2024 — she signed an FSJP letter to NYU leadership objecting to faculty arrests and PNG designations, listed as “Marie Cruz Soto, Gallatin School.” The letter condemns the administration for supposedly caving to “violent Zionist organizations” and defends protests against “an apartheid state,” dismissing safety concerns as a “hollow invocation.” Other signatories included Rebecca Karl and Asli Peker.
- November 2024 — Cruz Soto was named in the national FSJP Roundup #13, described as “a scholar of militarism.” The roundup notes that “NYU FSJP is part of a national network of [FSJP chapters].”
- February 2022 — on an NYU Review of Law & Social Change panel titled “Reclaiming Decolonial Sovereignty,” Cruz Soto said: “It is very clear in the case of Puerto Rico…that a big part of the problem is the law. Puerto Rico is a colonial state.”
- November 2018 — Cruz Soto signed the NYU “Resolution on the Human Rights of Palestinians” as “Marie Cruz Soto, Clinical Assistant Professor,” signatory #20. The resolution directly supported the BDS movement and said, “NYU must dedicate itself to ethical conduct in its investment practices by divesting
from companies that profit from human rights violations in Palestine and other communities globally.”
- November 2016 — Cruz Soto was quoted in a Washington Square News article on Trump’s policies, listed as “Marie Cruz-Soto, Gallatin clinical assistant professor.” The same piece mentions Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine members, placing her in that orbit as early as 2016.
Does Marie Cruz Soto’s Activism Conflict With Her Teaching Role?
Gallatin sells itself on individualized study and intellectual diversity. Cruz Soto teaches courses touching on colonialism and militarism — exactly the subject matter where a professor’s public commitments are most likely to shape what gets taught and what gets skipped. Students deserve to weigh that.
Conclusion: What Does Marie Cruz Soto Mean for NYU’s Gallatin School?
Marie Cruz Soto is a signatory, not a bystander. Her name appears on divestment resolutions and FSJP letters stretching from 2016 to 2024, each one stamped with her Gallatin title. Can a professor with a documented, years-long record of signing one-sided political statements teach courses on colonialism and militarism without that record shaping the room?
Gallatin’s students deserve an answer, not a faded shrug.
