Campus Watch September 26, 2024

Baruch College Allegedly Attempted to Bar Rosh Hashanah Event Due to Security Concerns

Baruch College, part of the City University of New York (CUNY), allegedly attempted to block a campus event celebrating Rosh Hashanah due to security concerns.

Baruch College Hillel Director Ilya Brayman, who is also an English professor at the college, told The New York Post that they “were told by the administration that the campus can’t guarantee the safety of Jewish students because of other agitators who want to hurt, intimidate or harass them” and that the college only reversed course when Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) lambasted the decision. The college is denying that they attempted to block the event, telling the Post: “Baruch College did not request that students or faculty cancel Rosh Hashanah celebrations and any reports suggesting otherwise are entirely false. A Rosh Hashanah Festival will continue as planned on the nearby public plaza on Sept. 26. Baruch College does not tolerate antisemitism or any act of hate and is dedicated to providing a learning environment that is safe and fosters respect and inclusion for every member of the community.” 

Interim Columbia President Apologizes Over Police Arresting Anti-Israel Encampment Protesters

Interim Columbia University President Katrina Armstrong issued an apology over the university sending in police to arrest more than 200 anti-Israel protesters involved in the April encampment.

Speaking to The Columbia Daily Spectator, Armstrong said: “I know that this is tricky for me to say, but I do understand that I sit in this job, right. And so if you could just let everybody know who was hurt by that, that I’m just incredibly sorry.  I know it wasn’t me, but I’m really sorry … I saw it, and I’m really sorry.”

Columbia Professor Shai Davidai posted on X that he was “deeply disappointed” with Armstrong’s remarks. “Did she apologize to the Jewish and Israeli students who were terrorized for months on campus? No. She apologized to the students who *broke the rules and faced consequences*,” he wrote. “At least now, when reporters ask me where the new president stands on the issue, I have something to point them to.”

Wesleyan University Rejects Anti-Israel Divestment Proposal

Wesleyan University’s board of trustees voted against a proposal on Sept. 21 to divest the university from companies that conduct business with Israel.

The Middletown Press reported that the vote occurred after university leaders vowed to bring the Wesleyan Student Assembly’s Committee for Investor Responsibility proposal up for consideration following anti-Israel protests during the spring. “Supporters of the divestment proposal claim $20 million of Wesleyan’s $1.5 billion endowment is tied up in various companies connected to the Israeli military,” reported The Middletown Press. “They said the vast majority of students back the divestment plan.” Around 10 students held a sit-in inside a campus building the day before the vote in support of the proposal; about half of them were arrested after university officals gave them warnings to leave.

University spokesperson Ziba Kashef told The Middletown Press that the trustees staunchly supported the university’s investment committee’s unanimous decision against divestment, but did not disclose what the vote count was amongst the trustees. 

Texas Tech Library Staffer Suspended Over Antisemitic Social Media Posts

The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) suspended a library unit manager on Aug. 30 over his antisemitic posts on X.

The university announced in a statement that the posts by the employee, Rudy Meixell, are “hateful, antisemitic, and unacceptable.” “We take the First Amendment’s application to public universities seriously; however, we are also committed to providing a safe learning and working environment that is free from harassment, including antisemitic harassment, and will not tolerate behavior that crosses the line into harassment and interferes with or limits the ability of an individual to participate in the educational activities of TTUHSC,” the statement read. Meixell has been suspended “with pay pending an investigation.”

According to Campus Reform, Meixell’s social media posts included posting to X that “it would be nice to have one major party in this country that doesn’t worship the ground Jews walk on” and “Hezbollah just launched multiple strikes. Zionism, the real barbarism, will be defeated.”

Anti-Israel Protesters Take Down American Flag, Spray-Paint Buildings at UNC

Various protesters spray-painted messages like “Free Gaza” and “Israel is a terror state” during an anti-Israel protest at the University of North Carolina (UNC) on Sept. 19; the protesters also briefly took down an American flag hanging outside of the campus’s Naval Armory. 

The Daily Tar Heel reported that the flag was taken down at around 1:48 pm EST by the protesters and was put back at around 2:24 pm EST. At least 200 students and university staff participated in the protest, according to the Tar Heel.

“Free expression and peaceful protest are, of course, in line with Carolina’s best traditions,” Chancellor Lee Roberts said in a statement. “We cannot tolerate, however, vandalism of public property or disruption of classes. We’ll pursue every avenue possible to hold people accountable.”