Statement on proposed boycott of Israeli universities by Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust

Earlier this summer the University and College Union (UCU), an organization of British academics, proposed a boycott of Israeli universities and academics, a proposal to be voted on by their membership in the coming months. On my second day as President, July 2, I wrote directly to Sally Hunt, the First General Secretary (president) of the UCU, stating my strong opposition to this measure. I expressed my conviction that such a move subverts the academic values and freedoms necessary to the free flow of ideas that are the lifeblood of universities and, ultimately, that of the societies and world we serve. To be clear, my own view is that academics should be promoting, not undermining, the fullest possible collaboration with Israeli universities as well as other universities in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Finally, while I am most comfortable expressing my views on such matters directly in my own words as opposed to signing group statements or petitions, I obviously join many colleagues throughout the international academic community in denouncing unequivocally an action that would serve no purpose and would fundamentally violate the academic freedoms we must defend at all costs.

Original: http://www.harvard.edu/president/statement-on-proposed-boycott-israeli-universities

In September 2016, San Jose State University (SJSU) President Mary Papazian issued a powerful statement condemning two swastikas that were found in SJSU residence halls. The statement utilized many of LDB’s “Best Practices” including its promptness, specificity, firmness, and included plans for outreach to the affected groups as well as the entire campus community.

In June 2016, Portland State University President Wim Wiemel issued an excellent statement condemning a proposed PSU Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) resolution. He stated, “[t]he tone and tenor of the BDS movement has made members of our community feel unsafe and unwelcome at PSU, and it is not acceptable to marginalize or scapegoat them. Anti-Semitism cannot and will not be tolerated on our campus.”

Original Article

In 2015, Drexel University President John Fry issued an excellent statement condemning the use of swastikas and explaining their meaning in relationship to anti-Semitism with great clarity and specificity:

Read Here

To the Northeastern Community:

I write to express my outrage and extreme disappointment at an incident that occurred in International Village this morning. At approximately 1:30 am, a resident assistant found swastikas drawn on a dry-erase board in a common area in the building. Our police department reported immediately to the scene, collected evidence of the incident, and is actively investigating.

I condemn this hateful act of anti-Semitism in the strongest possible terms. These actions are completely antithetical to the values of our university and all that we stand for. Bias, hate crimes, and anti-Semitism are completely unacceptable—whether they occur on our campus, or anywhere else. We must always reject this intolerant and low behavior, and reinforce the values of diversity, acceptance, and mutual understanding that undergird our community’s strength.

I ask all members of the Northeastern community to join with me in amplifying these positive values, and repudiating this incident and all forms of hateful behavior.

Sincerely,

Joseph E. Aoun
President

When vandals used Swastikas to deface flyers announcing a Louis D. Brandeis Center event at Northeastern University, President Joseph E. Aoun immediately issued a statement that is exemplary for its promptness, firmness, and specificity, as well as for the fact that President Aoun issued it personally while announcing that the university police department is actively investigating the case.

To the Members of the Northeastern Community:

An incident has occurred on our campus that is completely unacceptable and an affront to our entire community and the values of our university. This afternoon, swastikas were drawn on two flyers posted in Dockser Hall publicizing an event, sponsored by the Alliance for Israel at Northeastern and the Louis D. Brandeis Center, scheduled to take place Monday at the School of Law.

Let there be no doubt: we have absolutely no tolerance for anti-Semitism, prejudice, and hate crimes of any kind, including this incident. The Northeastern University Police Department is in possession of evidence related to this act and is actively investigating the case.

Let me also affirm my support for all groups, including the organizers of Monday’s event, to operate and speak freely in an atmosphere of mutual respect and understanding, and free from intimidation. Northeastern is a community that embraces diversity in all its forms, and we will always cherish and uphold this value with vigor and determination. We will not accept anything less.

The end of the Jewish year brought important victories in the fight against anti-Semitism.

Read Brief

Tom Relihan 
Enterprise News
October 6, 2017

For at least the fourth time, a student at Stoughton High School has used a hate-related symbol in school.

Principal Juliette Miller wrote in an e-mail to the high school community that a student had digitally drawn a swastika – a symbol of Nazi Germany – using a program on a computer while working on a group project with some of his peers to make up designs for flags.

The student, a Sophomore, erased the image at the request of one of his group’s members, Miller wrote, and a teacher intervened and reported the incident to the administration.

The parents of students who witnessed the incident were notified, Miller wrote.

Miller said the procedures for dealing with such incidents outlined in the district’s student handbook were followed and strictly enforced.

Miller said harassment incidents involving discrimination carry an out-of-school suspension penalty.

“The correction provided by the student’s peer and the swift actions of the teacher and administration demonstrate the ideals we value as a community,” she wrote.

Stoughton High School has been the scene of multiple hate-related incidents involving Nazi symbolism or references over the past year.

In November 2016, a student used tape to make a swastika while decorating the halls after school during Thanksgiving week, then made a comment regarding Adolf Hitler’s killing of Jews during the Holocaust after he was asked to take it down. The same day, another student used a swastika in a group chat outside of school that involved more than a dozen students.

Those incidents set off a community-wide controversy after three teachers were disciplined for speaking to their colleagues or their students about the incident.

One teacher was suspended for 20 days while the others received letters of reprimand.

The Enterprise was denied a copy of the final report produced after the incidents were independently investigated earlier this week. The district cited an exemption to the public records law preventing disclosure of documents dealing with “personnel matters” and a federal student privacy law.

In the midst of the subsequent public backlash, two other anti-Semitic and Nazi-related incidents took place, one involving a high school student who stood up and made a gesture in reference to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, and another where a younger middle school student directed anti-Semitic comments at a fellow child.

Miller later engaged the Anti-Defamation League at the high school to bring a program for students, faculty, staff and parents over the next two years.

Last month, representatives from the organization were at the school training upperclassmen to be peer ambassadors for the groups A World of Difference Institute. The training focused on understanding symbols of hate.

In September, the Louis D. Brandeis Center, a Washington, D.C.-based Jewish civil rights group, sent Superintendent Marguerite Rizzi and the School Committee a letter calling for the three teachers’ punishments to be retracted and characterizing them as free speech violations.

Other school districts have also grappled with hate-related incidents this year.

In March, students wrote racist and anti-Semitic graffiti that included derogatory terms for various ethnic groups and a comment about the rise of the Aryan race was found inside Brockton High School.

That followed another incident in December 2016 involing a student drawing a swastika and writing “Adolf Hitler” on a school chalkboard.

The Anti-Defamation League was also called in following those incidents.

Original Article

Northeastern University School of Law,

LDB’s Director of Legal Initiatives, Aviva Vogelstein, will address the LDB chapter at the Northeastern University School of Law on the topic of “What is Anti-Semitism?” Vogelstein graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2010, magna cum laude, with a BA in American History, and from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 2013. During law school, Aviva served as Notes Editor for Cardozo’s Journal of Conflict Resolution, one of the world’s preeminent legal journals of arbitration, negotiation and mediation, and was a fellow in Cardozo’s Bet Tzedek Legal Services Clinic. Since joining the Brandeis Center in 2014, Aviva’s work has focused on combating the resurgence of anti-Semitism on American university campuses through legal and public policy approaches, and growing LDB’s law student chapter initiative. Aviva currently speaks and presents to a wide variety of audiences at law schools, high schools, synagogues, and community organizations.

Harvard Law School

LDB’s Director of Legal Initiatives, Aviva Vogelstein, will speak to students at Harvard Law School on Tuesday, October 3, on the topic of “Campus Anti-Semitism and the Law.” She will focus on legal strategies to combat anti-Semitism, including the “new” anti-Semitism – anti-Semitism masked as anti-Israelism – on college and university campuses. Vogelstein graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2010, magna cum laude, with a BA in American History, and from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 2013. During law school, Aviva served as Notes Editor for Cardozo’s Journal of Conflict Resolution, one of the world’s preeminent legal journals of arbitration, negotiation and mediation, and was a fellow in Cardozo’s Bet Tzedek Legal Services Clinic. Since joining the Brandeis Center in 2014, Aviva’s work has focused on combating the resurgence of anti-Semitism on American university campuses through legal and public policy approaches, and growing LDB’s law student chapter initiative. Aviva currently speaks and presents to a wide variety of audiences at law schools, high schools, synagogues, and community organizations.