NYC City Council to Investigate Antisemitism Allegations at CUNY

The New York City Council announced on May 31 that they will be investigating allegations of antisemitism at the City University of New York (CUNY) schools.

The New York Post reported that the city council’s Higher Education Committee will holding a hearing on June 8 about antisemitism at college campuses; the Post claimed to have sources telling them that the decision from CUNY Law faculty to back a resolution endorsing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement was what prompted the city council to hold the hearing.

“The embracement and normalization of BDS by both CUNY students and faculty has fostered an extremely hostile campus environment that has resulted in the more blatant forms of antisemitism that are becoming all too common in our city,” City Councilman Eric Dinowitz, a Democrat who heads the committee and the Jewish Caucus in the city council, told the Post. “It is crucial for the Council to ensure that our CUNY system, a national model for higher education, does not descend into the singling out of the only Jewish state in the world, and in turn, ostracize our Jewish students and residents.”

City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, a Republican who serves as the city council’s Minority Whip, tweeted: “Antisemitism will no longer go unchecked at @CUNY. Not on my watch. Defund antisemitism. Expose the antisemites. I am just getting started here. And now, I hope this probe/hearing leads to real action and not just headlines.” Vernikov had recently announced that she is revoking $50,000 from CUNY over the BDS resolution vote.

https://t.co/YkTA9qYBey Antisemitism will no longer go unchecked at @CUNY. Not on my watch. Defund antisemitism ✅. Expose the antisemites. ✅ I am just getting started here. And now, I hope this probe/hearing leads to real action and not just headlines.

— Councilwoman Inna Vernikov (@InnaVernikov) June 1, 2022

Students and Faculty for Equality at CUNY (S.A.F.E. CUNY) said in a statement to the Journal, “S.A.F.E. CUNY is extremely grateful to Council Members Dinowitz and Vernikov for their courageous efforts to shine light on what has been a very dark time for Jewish students and faculty members at CUNY. It is truly sad that this unprecedented probe has become necessary. But after Chancellor [Felix] Matos-Rodriguez first repeatedly refused to address even fully investigated and [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission]-substantiated antisemitism at the university and then issued a bizarre statement that CUNY Law School faculty’s discriminatory and blatantly illegal adoption of BDS policy was somehow ‘political,’ this sad reality has become a necessity. 

“We have called for Chancellor Matos-Rodriguez to step down for defending policies that violate city, state and federal discrimination laws as well as New York State Executive Order No. 157,” they added. Executive Order No. 157 is the state’s anti-BDS law.

A CUNY spokesperson said in a statement to the Journal, “As the Chancellor said earlier this week, reiterating statements that he made in July and December 2021, CUNY is home to a great many organizations that represent students, faculty and staff. However, these organizations speak for themselves and their opinions do not represent the views of University or the CUNY community as a whole. We hope that our elected officials base decisions about public fund allocation on the needs of the community and on the efficiency of agencies entrusted in managing those funds for the public good.”