Dept. of Education to Investigate SUNY New Paltz Over Antisemitism Allegations
The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has decided to launch an official investigation into the State University at New York (SUNY) New Paltz over allegations that two Jewish students were excluded from a sexual assault survivors’ student group.
The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and Jewish on Campus (JOC), jointly filed the complaint with OCR on behalf of the students last year; as the Journal previously reported, the complaint stated that the New Paltz Accountability (NPA) group “excluded” and “publicly vilified” the two students.
Denise Katz-Prober, director of legal initiatives for the Brandeis Center, said in a statement that the launching of the investigation “sends a clear and unequivocal signal to SUNY New Paltz as well as universities across the country that they take anti-Zionist discrimination and harassment seriously.”
El Camino Community College Commencement Speaker Accuses Israel of “Killing and Torturing Palestinians”
El Camino Community College’s commencement speaker accused Israel of “killing and torturing Palestinians as we speak” during her commencement address.
The speaker, Associated Students Organization President Jana Abulaban, said: “I gift my graduation to all Palestinians who have lost their lives and those who continue to lose their lives every day to the oppressive, apartheid state of Israel, killing and torturing Palestinians as we speak.” Abulaban, who was born in Jordan and identifies as a Palestinian, denied that her speech was antisemitic, telling The New York Post that her speech was aimed at the Israeli government, not the Jewish people. She also said she was “inspired” by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) activist Fatima Mousa Mohammed’s recent commencement address at the City University of New York (CUNY) Law. Abulaban will be transferring to UCLA this fall.
NJ Rep Gottheimer Calls for Education Dept. to Investigate CUNY
Representative Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) called on OCR to investigate the City University of New York (CUNY) over “the persistent attacks against Jewish and pro-Israel students that have emanated from CUNY recently.” Such an investigation could put CUNY at risk of losing federal funding.
Gottheimer referred to the CUNY Law commencement address given by Fatima Mousa Mohammed in May as “the latest in a long list of hostile attacks against Jewish students on CUNY’s campuses.” Mohammed’s speech had connected “Israel to colonialism, oppression, racism, and even white supremacy,” Gottheimer argued. He also noted that the CUNY Law Student Government Association passed a pro-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) resolution that was later endorsed by the faculty and some CUNY students have “been known to frequently chant ‘Zionists out of CUNY’ at rallies and public events.”
“Students deserve to feel safe on their campuses,” Gottheimer wrote. “I ask that the Department and OCR review CUNY’s violations of Title VI [of the Civil Rights Act] to discern whether they have forfeited their right to receive federal funding.”
Stop Antisemitism Calls for NY Gov to Remove CUNY Chancellor
Stop Antisemitism Executive Director Liora Rez issued a letter on June 9 to New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) to remove City University of New York (CUNY) Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez from his position.
Rez wrote that Rodriguez failed to denounce the CUNY Law’s 2022 commencement Nerdeen Kiswani, who founded the pro-Palestinian organization Within Our Lifetime that “has held rallies calling to ‘globalize the Intifada,’ and have resulted in the physical assaults of innocent Jews on the streets of [New York City].” And Mohammed’s speech––which both Rodriguez and the CUNY Board of Trustees have subsequently condemned as “hate speech”––was, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), “submitted, examined and pre-approved by CUNY in written form and in verbal recording.”
“Chancellor Rodriguez has proven that he cannot be trusted to uphold his pledge ‘to champion student equity’ when it comes to Jewish students, and therefore must be removed,” Rez wrote.
Connecticut College Criticized for Appointing Former SFSU President As Interim President
Connecticut College is being criticized for appointing former San Francisco State University (SFSU) President Leslie Wong as interim president of Connecticut College given the antisemitic controversies that happened at SFSU under Wong’s 2012-19 tenure.
One controversy that occurred under Wong was the barring of Hillel from a 2017 “Know Your Rights” campus fair. The university acknowledged the fair organizers deliberately excluded Hillel; a lawsuit was subsequently filed against the university, resulting in a settlement. Wong also initially refused to say in 2017 if he would welcome Zionists to campus, and then subsequently apologized for those comments.
Connecticut College Hillel Co-President Davi Schulman, who’s also an undergraduate student, told Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA): “I find it unbelievable that Connecticut College chose to hire an antisemitic interim president right after our previous antisemitic president resigned.” The college’s previous president resigned after she was scheduled to hold a fundraiser at a club with a reported history of antisemitism and racism. In a statement to JTA, the college called Wong “a nationally respected leader” committed to diversity, equity and inclusion who handled the controversies at SFSU “professionally.”
