Campus Watch July 25, 2024

UC Regents Bar Political Statements from University Homepages

The UC Board of Regents voted on July 18 to bar political statements from being posted on the homepages of university websites out of concern that doing so could be seen as the university endorsing those statements.

According to the Daily Bruin, the policy — Item J2 — states that “the University affirms the right of academic freedom while also fostering an inclusive environment. However, individual or group statements on political or controversial issues that are posted on Units’ websites and are unrelated to the Unit’s day-to-day operations are likely to be interpreted by the public and the community as the University’s institutional views.” UC employees are still allowed to post their political views on social media or personal websites, as well as other university website pages so long as those pages have a disclaimer that the views expressed do not represent the university’s views.

Regent Richard Leib called the policy “content-neutral,” contending that “if the economics department put MAGA stuff on its website, it’s the same deal.” Critics of the policy told the Bruin that J2 was tantamount to censorship.

Billionaire Pauses Funding to Columbia Over University’s Handling of Antisemitism

Billionaire Mort Zuckerman is reportedly pausing the $200 million donation he pledged to Columbia University in 2012 over the university’s handling of antisemitism on campus.

A spokeswoman for the Zuckerman Family Office told the Washington Free Beacon on July 15, “The recent decisions and actions taken by Columbia have been antithetical to the University’s mission and it is simply not the same institution it was when Mr. Zuckerman made the pledge.” The spokeswoman also told the outlet that “a significant minority percentage” of Zuckerman’s pledge has already been given to the school. Zuckerman, who owns U.S. News and World Report, had made the pledge toward establishing the university’s Mind Brain Behavior Institute aimed at studying neuroscience; Zuckerman chairs the institute’s board of advisors, per the Free Beacon.

StandWithUs Accuses Two SMC Professors of “Compelled Speech” in Their Assignments

 StandWithUs sent a letter to Santa Monica College on June 10 accusing two professors at the schools of engaging in “compelled speech” in favor of their pro-Palestinian viewpoint in their assignments.

The College Fix reported on July 19 that StandWithUs’s letter specifically noted that an assignment from an ethnic studies professor asked students to write about “ongoing destruction and genocide by Israel in Palestine” and an art history professor assigned students to describe how to “visually educate” people about “the ongoing conflict on Gaza on the occupied Palestinian lands.”

Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) Program Officer Jessie Appleby told the Fix that “merely requiring students to study or discuss materials with which they disagree as part of their academic coursework does not implicate First Amendment rights against viewpoint discrimination and compelled speech. What instructors cannot do is require students to accept or profess a particular belief or viewpoint.” StandWithUs replied that the assignments “presented viewpoints that many Jewish individuals would experience as an attack against an integral component of their Jewish identity and in a manner such that students might well believe they were required to adopt and espouse those viewpoints in order to successfully complete the assignment and avoid retribution (grading or otherwise). As such, the assignments … posed the serious risks of (1) compromising students “right to learn in a hostile-free environment” and (2) (intentionally or not) improperly compelling students to espouse positions with which they do not agree.”

Cal Poly Humboldt President Resigns

Cal Poly Humboldt President Tom Jackson Jr. announced on July 11 that he is stepping down from his position.

“Cal Poly Humboldt is an amazing place with special people,” Jackson said in a statement. “I have had the privilege to work alongside scientists and future scientists, teachers and future teachers, artists and future artists, engineers and future engineers, and leaders and future leaders. Like many of you, I wake up every day and remember what a gift I have been given: to have the opportunity to inspire and lead others. Your work makes a positive difference for our students. Please never forget that.” He will remain at the school as a tenured faculty member.

Though a reason was not given for Jackson’s resignation, he had faced criticism for his handling over anti-Israel protests in April in which “protestors occupied a section of the campus and two buildings, one of which contained the president’s office,” per Campus Reform. “The building, Siemens Hall, was vandalized and renamed ‘Intifada Hall’ by the occupiers.” The university senate had passed a vote of no confidence in April over Jackson calling in law enforcement to remove the students; the resolution accused Jackson of creating an “unnecessary escalation” that resulted “in physical assault on students and faculty and injury of law enforcement personnel,” reported Jefferson Public Radio.