Peyrin Kao
Peyrin Kao is a lecturer and activist. He is a computer science lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley and drew attention for his hunger strike on behalf of Palestine which lasted for 38 days.
Career
Kao began lecturing in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department at Berkeley in 2022. Previously, he had been a teaching assistant. His contract is set to expire in 2028.Activism
In November 2023, Kao gave a 25-minute lecture and subsequently facilitated discussion on Israel's bombing of the Gaza Strip at the end of his computer science class. Kao posted the lecture and discussion to YouTube, which garnered much attention. He then had to meet with administrators over possible "disciplinary actions."On August 27, 2025, the first day of classes at Berkeley, Kao announced a hunger strike which lasted 38 days, until early October. During it, he continued to teach courses while subsisting on a diet of 250 calories per day, resembling the average food portion accessible to Palestinians in Northern Gaza according to a 2024 Oxfam report. He also called for "the university to issue a statement declaring that Israel is conducting a genocide in Gaza, divest from the military, and change its ethical standards for collaborations and partnerships." After ending the hunger strike due to risk of permanent damage to his body, he continued to raise funds for individuals in Gaza.
In September 2025, Kao's name was listed among the 160 students and staff whom Berkeley identified to the federal government for an alleged antisemitism investigation. Kao called the action unsurprising but nonetheless consequential as a chilling effect on freedom of speech.
In December 2025, the Berkeley administration suspended Kao for the spring 2026 semester without pay; Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Benjamin Hermalin had written a recommendation letter for the action citing Kao's lecture in 2023 as inappropriate "political advocacy." Hermalin also argued that Kao's hunger strike violated school policy. Afterward, the student group STEM4Palestine declared a hunger strike beginning on December 10.
STEM4Palestine also launched an open letter calling for Kao’s reinstatement and denouncing his suspension as a violation of academic freedom. One of the signatories, former colleague and student of Kao, wrote: