A Swastika at UC Santa Cruz and the University's "Reaction"

UC Santa Cruz (America's Wackiest University)

Today, I received the below letter from my friends and colleagues, Leila Beckwith, Prof. Emeritus, UCLA, and Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, Lecturer at UC Santa Cruz. It concerns the discovery of a swastika on a UC Santa Cruz bathroom stall by a Jewish student, his complaint, and  the "responses" from UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal and UC President Mark Yudof.
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"Anti-Semitism has never been acknowledged at UCSC"


- a Jewish student at UC Santa Cruz

Dear AMCHA Supporter:

After discovering a swastika drawn on the door of a bathroom stall at UC Santa Cruz last week, a Jewish student sent a photograph of the graffiti to UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal, asking him to make a public statement condemning the graffiti as an anti-Semitic act.


Later that day, the student received a response from the "Chancellor's Desk," informing him that steps would be taken to remove the "offensive graffiti" and indicating that no public statement would be forthcoming from the Chancellor about the anti-Semitic graffiti. Rather, the student was directed to a generic, campus-wide message that the chancellor had sent out earlier in the month, praising UCSC's Principles of Community and denouncing "hateful graffiti." The student was deeply disappointed that the Chancellor was unwilling to publicly acknowledge this -- or any other -- behavior as anti-Semitic and extremely hurtful to Jewish students.

http://amchainitiative.org/chancellors-desk-to-jewish-student-november-2011/


Surprisingly, the next day UC President Mark Yudof, who had been copied on the correspondence between the Jewish student and UCSC Chancellor, sent his own letter to the student. However, instead of supporting the student in his attempt to urge Chancellor Blumenthal to acknowledge the anti-Semitic act, President Yudof applauded the UCSC Chancellor's "leadership in combating anti-Semitism and other abusive behavior."

http://amchainitiative.org/president-yudof-letter-to-jewish-student-november-2011/


Dismayed by the responses of both UC leaders to his serious concerns, the Jewish student wrote the following moving letter, which he sent to President Yudof and copied to Chancellor Blumenthal and members of the President's Advisory Council on Campus Climate, Culture, and Inclusion:


"Dear President Yudof,


Thank you for your email! I am honored that you responded to me.


While I appreciate Chancellor Blumenthal's message earlier this month affirming UCSC's Principles of Community and denouncing "hateful graffiti," I am disappointed that he is not willing to make an announcement to the whole campus community, in which he specifically condemns this graffiti as anti-Semitic and states that anti-Semitic behavior violates our Principles of Community and will not be tolerated.

I am the grandchild of Holocaust survivors. A swastika is not a generic form of hate, it is a horrible and singular attack against Jews. When I see a swastika, I am reminded of 6 million of my people, who were slaughtered at the hands of the Nazis during the lifetime of my grandparents, simply for being Jews. In fact, I am not the only Jewish student on our campus whose grandparents were in concentration camps. A large portion of my family was murdered in the Holocaust, as is the case with the families of other students on this campus. A swastika is an unbelievably offensive and hurtful image. To call a swastika etched into a wall on campus "hateful graffiti," without identifying and denouncing it as an anti-Semitic act and acknowledging how offensive it is to Jewish students in particular, is extremely hurtful. The words "Never Again" mean a great deal to me; as I am sure they mean a great deal to you and to Chancellor Blumenthal.

As a matter of fact, anti-Semitism has never been acknowledged by UCSC administrators, and that is part of the problem. Many on our campus feel that there is a very hostile environment for Jewish students who identify with Israel, a hostility which is incited by their fellow students, professors, and administrators. Many have also complained about the problem to campus administrators, though our complaints have fallen on deaf ears.

I believe it is impossible to address the problem of anti-Semitism if you can't even acknowledge it. That's why I think it's very important for our chancellor to acknowledge and condemn this anti-semitic graffiti, as well as all other anti-Semitic behavior, whenever and wherever it occurs on our campus.

Sincerely,


[A Jewish Student]



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(AMCHA Comment:)

This Jewish student hit the nail on the head when he wrote, "anti-Semitism has never been acknowledged by UCSC administrators...[and] it is impossible to address to the problem of anti-Semitism if you can't even acknowledge it."

Help us show UC leaders that the Jewish community will not remain silent while Jewish students are being harassed and intimidated at the University of California, and their cries for help ignored.

Please consider sending a respectful email to UCSC Chancellor Blumenthal (chancellor@ucsc.edu) and UC President Yudof (president@ucop.edu), urging them to acknowledge and condemn this and all other anti-Semitic behavior, whenever it occurs on UC campuses.


Thank you!


Leila Beckwith

AMCHA Initiative Co-founder
Professor Emeritus, University of California at Los Angeles



Tammi Rossman-Benjamin

AMCHA Initiative Co-founder
Lecturer, University of California at Santa Cruz

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This, of course, is a theme that I have been writing on for five years. Contrast those disinterested responses from UCSC Chancellor Blumenthal and UC President Yudof with the turmoil at UC San Diego a year or so back when a noose was discovered in that school's library, and the so-called "Compton Cookout" occurred, two incidents still cloaked in mystery, but directed at African-Americans. The campus was turned upside down. The chancellor and vice chancellor addressed student rallies with bullhorns condemning the incidents and assurring African-American students that they were welcome on campus. I have no quarrel with that, yet, shortly thereafter, when David Horowitz came to UCSD, he was told by a female Muslim Student Association member that she agreed with the statement by the head of Hizbollah in Lebanon that Jews should all gather in Israel so the problem of killing them all would be simplified. A generic statement from "the university" was the only thing that followed, explaining that the student had "clarified her comments". Case closed.

What kind of hubbub followed last year's discovery of swastikas on UC Berkeley bathroom stalls? When a few Jewish students held a peaceful vigil to protest anti-Semitic expressions on campus, they were heckled by a university faculty member named Andrew Gutierrez. It is all on this site on video along with a photo of Gutierrez giving the finger to the students.

Here is the issue; expressions of hate toward any ethnic or religious group are wrong. Yet, within the UC system, it is obvious that the political correctness guidelines are being followed-as they are pretty much everywhere else. That means that expressions of hate toward African-Americans, Latinos, Muslims or Gays will be condemned in the strongest terms. That is all well and good. Yet, when expressions of hate are directed towards Jews, Caucasions or Asians, the reactions are much less particularly when perpetrated by other minorities. I should add that one of my Jewish friends has told me that the response to anti-black bias should, in fact, be stronger because of their unique history of slavery, segregation, and discrimination in this country. I respect that argument, yet I think in the year 2011, all expressions of hate must be countered equally. In my view, today, Jews are the biggest target. Anti-Semitism is on the march worldwide, and we all know where that can lead.

That is why I think that the response to anti-Semitism on UC campuses by the various chancellors and the current UC president (himself Jewish) is not only insufficient, but pathetic.