Podcast Summary
Antisemitism on College Campuses: Dr. Tabia Lee's Experience: Despite efforts, antisemitism remains a persistent issue on some college campuses, with incidents including distribution of antisemitic flyers and intentional exclusion of Jewish students from cultural events.
Antisemitism is a deeply entrenched issue in some college campuses, as evidenced by the experiences of Dr. Tabia Lee during her tenure as DEI director at De Anza College. Despite being shocked by the extent of antisemitism upon joining the California Community College System, Dr. Lee's concerns were validated by the stories she heard from faculty, staff, and students. These stories included incidents of antisemitic flyers being distributed on campus, and instances where Jewish students were intentionally excluded from events meant to celebrate their culture. These incidents demonstrate the need for continued efforts to address and root out antisemitism on college campuses.
Handling of antisemitism on campus: Universities must address unique challenges faced by different communities and implement inclusive, equitable policies and actions to prevent and address antisemitism.
During my time at the university, I encountered a complex situation regarding the handling of antisemitism on campus. Before my arrival, efforts by the Jewish student union to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism were subverted, and instead, a counter resolution condemning Israel was passed. This was just one instance of several incidents that created a challenging environment for Jewish students, faculty, and staff. During my needs assessment conversations, I learned about the Equity Action Council, which was supposed to promote equity on campus. When representatives from the local Hillel approached them with recommendations to address antisemitism, such as updating the campus website to include a statement against antisemitism, their requests were dismissed. The lack of action and understanding of equity from the Equity Action Council was shocking to me, as was the unwillingness to address antisemitism on campus. This situation highlighted the importance of understanding the unique challenges faced by different communities and the need for inclusive and equitable policies and actions.
University's Equity Team Ignores Antisemitism Reports, Focuses on 'Decentering Whiteness': University equity team disregarded antisemitism reports, prioritizing 'decentering whiteness', causing distress for Jewish students and diaspora.
During a conversation, it was revealed that an administrative team within a university refused to make a public statement against antisemitism, despite reports of its presence. Instead, they focused on "decentering whiteness" and disregarded concerns from Jewish students and diaspora. This incident occurred within the department of equity, social justice, and multicultural education, and involved various governance bodies, student government, faculty representation, and the dean of equity and engagement. The speaker, who has spent their entire career in education, noted that they encountered this perspective on social justice for the first time in the California Community College system. The incident is not unique to this university, as similar occurrences have been reported at other public and private universities nationwide. The speaker is now advocating for a better understanding of critical social justice to address these issues.
Teaching from different social justice approaches: Recognize and respect diverse social justice approaches in education, foster open dialogue and understanding to avoid polarization.
Social justice approaches in education can vary greatly. The speaker shares her experience of teaching from a classical social justice approach, which focuses on individual agency and equality of opportunity, versus a critical social justice approach, which emphasizes recognizing and addressing systemic oppressions. She found that these perspectives can be polarized in educational spaces, and her own tenure review was affected due to her not aligning with the more vocal critical social justice advocates. It's essential to recognize and respect these differing approaches to social justice in education and foster open dialogue and understanding.
Individuals advocating for inclusion can face career destruction and personal attacks: Critical social justice ideologies can lead to silencing, shaming, and shunning of those who challenge the status quo, resulting in career destruction and personal attacks.
When critical social justice ideologies dominate an institution, those who question or challenge the status quo can face silencing, shaming, and shunning. This was the experience of an individual who was let go from their DEI director position after advocating for inclusion of all communities in racial healing initiatives. Despite support from colleagues and positive changes made in a campus-wide heritage month work group, the academic senate refused to support the initiative and instead accused one of the individuals who stood by the former director of being racist. This led to the career destruction and personal attacks against this individual, highlighting the damaging and hurtful consequences of groupthink and mass actions.
Intolerance for viewpoint diversity on college campuses: Intolerance for opposing views, academic freedom, and freedom of speech is growing on college campuses, leading to dangerous and divisive actions.
DEI initiatives can become a turf to be protected, leading to intolerance and neutralization of opposing views. This issue is not limited to conservative or liberal individuals but is becoming more prevalent among extremes on both sides. Extreme intolerance for viewpoint diversity, academic freedom, and freedom of speech is a growing concern on college campuses, where hateful actions and rhetoric, such as celebrating terrorist organizations or promoting antisemitic views, are becoming more common. These actions, rooted in critical social justice ideology, are dangerous for all and need to be addressed to prevent further division and unity of extremes. It's essential to recognize and root out these harmful behaviors from our schools to maintain a healthy and inclusive environment.
