Campus Watch August 29, 2024

Lawsuit: Santa Ana School District Hid Ethnic Studies Curriculum from Jewish Community

A new filing in a lawsuit against the Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) alleged that the district purposely hid antisemitic and biased material ethnic studies courses they were developing from the Jewish community in violation of state law.

The lawsuit was initially filed in Sept. 2023 by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), American Jewish Committee (AJC), the Louis Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and the Covington & Burling law firm. According to an Aug. 26 press release, the new filing alleged that the SAUSD Ethnic Studies Steering Committee discussed about how to deal with “the Jewish question” in response to the Jewish community’s concerns about the curriculum and that committee members referred to Jews as “oppressors” who benefit from “white privilege.” Senior officials on the committee also discussed the possibility of approving ethnic studies courses during Jewish holidays when the Jewish community could not weigh in.

“Under the Brown Act (California’s open meeting laws) and AB 101 (the 2021 statute making ethnic studies a requirement for graduation from public high schools), California school boards are required to take specific steps to make members of the public aware of proposed curricula and allow for public comment,” the press release stated. “The motion and supporting evidence proves that SAUSD knowingly circumvented these laws to approve curricula with dangerously anti-Jewish teachings before the public became aware of them.”

A SAUSD official told National Review that they’re not commenting on ongoing litigation.

Anti-Israel Protesters Set Up Mock Israeli Checkpoints at Sonoma State

Anti-Israel protesters set up a mock Israeli checkpoint at Sonoma State University (SSU) on Aug. 20.

The Press Democrat reported that the protest was held at SSU’s Seawolf Plaza, protesters dressed in military garb “spoke with bravado as other protesters acting as Palestinians tried to pass through.” The Press Democrat quoted SSU Students for Justice on Palestine (SJP) member Albert Levine as saying, “We don’t want to make people uncomfortable, but we want people to be uncomfortable with the idea of what we’re paying for overseas with our tax dollars.” Madyline Jaramillo, another SSU SJP member, told The Press Democrat: “This action also helped us to gauge where admin is right now and their response, as well as the response from students. We’re here to make noise and get students on board.” Jaramillo also told the paper that the protest was “one of many” planned for the year.

“Israel Bombs, Cornell Pays” Graffiti Spray-Painted on Cornell Building

The words “Israel bombs, Cornell pays” and “Blood is on your hands” were scrawled in red spray-paint on the entrance of Cornell University’s Day Hall on Aug. 26.

Those behind the graffiti told The Cornell Daily Sun, “We had to accept that the only way to make ourselves heard is by targeting the only thing the university administration truly cares about: property. With the start of this new academic year, the Cornell administration is trying desperately to upkeep a facade of normalcy knowing that, since last semester, they have been working tirelessly to uphold Cornell’s function as a fascist, classist, imperial machine.” Day Hall, according to the Daily Sun, is the university’s “main administrative building.” Additionally, the perpetrators told the Daily Sun that “debates and peaceful protests” alone “will never be enough to achieve the change we demand.”

Vice President for University Relations Joel Malina wrote in a statement that afternoon that the university was “appalled this morning to find graffiti spraypainted overnight in several campus buildings and outdoor locations. These acts of vandalism are not just violations of University policy but are also crimes.” Malina added that university police are investigating the matter.

Settlement: Jewish Students Exempt from MIT Grad Student Union Dues

Five Jewish graduate students at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT) are now exempt from paying dues to the university’s Graduate Student Union (GSU) after the students objected to the union’s support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

The students had alleged in a lawsuit that the GSU ordered them to pay dues despite the students invoking their religious objection under Title VII of the Civil Rights Acts over the union’s support for BDS. According to Campus Reform, the GSU’s vice president “was said to have been arrested and subsequently placed on paid ‘union leave’ funded by union dues, following her involvement in an anti-Israel protest.” Under the settlement, the GSU must inform all graduate students that “that they will not restrict the ability of those who resign their union memberships to cut off dues payments for political expenses and pay a reduced amount to the union,” according to a press release from the National Right to Work Foundation, which provided free legal assistance to the Jewish students. The Jewish students will be donating the money that the union demanded to charities of their choice, including American Friends of Magen David Adom.