Two scholarly associations last week issued statements about the Iranian government’s crackdown on students and professors at the nation’s universities. The Middle East Studies Association sent a letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressing “serious concern over the murders, mass arrests, brutal beatings, and widespread harassment of Iranian university students.” A statement from the Executive Council of the Modern Language Association said: “Recognizing with alarm the implications for freedom of thought and expression and in the light of its particular responsibility for the humanities in higher education, the Modern Language Association deplores the attacks on Iranian universities, which endanger students, faculty members, and staff members. We express our hope that the government of Iran will refrain from using violence or other repressive measures in these revered centers of learning and teaching.”