The following is the closing portion of remarks from University of California Board of Regents Chair Rich Leib on Wednesday, Nov. 15, at the UC Board of Regents meeting, in light of recent events in Israel and Gaza. The remarks follow a letter issued by President Drake and the 10 UC chancellors to the community last week that underscored a shared commitment to providing an educational environment free of discrimination, intolerance, and intimidation.
I want to close by acknowledging the tension, anger, and frustration that has been clearly felt and seen on our campuses over the past several weeks. I have met with both Muslim and Jewish students to hear first-hand what our students are experiencing.
Jewish, Arab, and Muslim students on our campuses have expressed to me that they do not feel safe – many of them.
At the nation’s finest public university system, in 2023, that is not acceptable, and we have to do more to support our students, and that means all of our students.
I am appalled at the rise of hate speech directed at Arab and Muslim students. And I am alarmed at the reports of threats, assaults, and discrimination in the classroom experienced by our Jewish students.
Nationwide – and I think this is important to note – there has been a 400 percent rise in antisemitic incidents since October 7th and sadly, it appears our campuses have fared no better.
I have heard from many Jewish students. Not only did they see unspeakable brutality perpetrated by Hamas terrorists in Israel, but they also have heard it praised on our campuses by some students and faculty.
They have seen it justified on many University websites.
And they have shared specific instances in which they believe their rights have been violated by episodes of academic abuse by isolated members of our faculty – I emphasize isolated members of our faculty, but it is true – in violation of the faculty code of conduct and our university policies.
Today I want to tell you, that is NOT okay.
In 2015, UC responded to a wave of antisemitism by forming a Regents working group and setting a policy.
This past week I read the report from the working group and the Regents very specifically concluded that harassment, threats, and assaults will not be tolerated within the University system.
No one can deny that these things have happened on our campus these past six weeks. But I don’t think we’ve seen the enforcement of these clear violations.
The Governor and members of the Legislature have directly called on us to do better.
Today, I am urging the Chancellors to take three actions, and the actions that I would like the Chancellors to take involve all of our students – our Arab, our Muslim, and our Jewish students.
1) Ensure your campuses are safe for all students, faculty, and staff – Arabs, Muslims, Jews, everyone. This is your highest imperative, and all necessary resources must be employed to ensure the safety of our campus communities.
2) When there are violations, we need swift condemnation and enforcement. We have policies for faculty conduct. If there are credible allegations of violations, they must be investigated, and if you find violations have occurred, it is time to enforce discipline. I encourage students to report these incidents so that the University leadership can take appropriate and swift action.
3) On the subject of free speech, free speech is a cherished value in this country, and we are not only bound but deeply committed to protecting the right of free speech on our campuses.
But the time for moral clarity is upon us. If faculty or students engage in hate speech, it is incumbent on the university and campus leadership to call it out.
Hate speech is still protected, but it can be called out when it is outrageous.
So, for example, when Jihadist flags are waved at demonstrations, we don’t need to debate the moral question. We can simply call it out for what it is, a symbol of hatred and the banner of an organization that has murdered thousands of civilians in cold blood.
In fact, there is a faculty member at one of our UCs whose son was beheaded by an Al Qaeda operative.
It is not okay for our students to fear for their safety on our campuses and hear no response from campus leaders. And when hate speech crosses the line and includes true threats, incitement, and harassment, then we need to not only call it out but take disciplinary action.
Again, I think all of those concepts apply to all of our students on campus and I think we’d all agree that these are important things to do.
I will not stand silently, and I know that my fellow Regents will not be silent when members of our university community are made to feel unsafe.
We have no patience for faculty who abuse their positions and willfully violate our policies. Again, it’s a minor percentage of faculty, but we’ve seen it the last six weeks and I think we need to take action.
And we will not stand by and silently tolerate actions that take away the dignity of our students, our faculty, or staff because of race, religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, or gender.
The time for leadership is now.
That concludes my remarks. Thank you.
*
Preceding provided by UC News
Thank you for you strong moral clarity and leadership. But how can we eradicate antisemitism on campus when so many tenured professors are antisemitic themselves?