UC Irvine-Then and Now

Hat tip Orange County Independent Task Force on Anti-Semitism

"Among the Task Force’s findings were:

1. UCI’s Chancellor “has failed to exercise his moral authority as an educator and leader by abrogating his leadership responsibilities… There is no indication that the University is at all concerned about the disconnect between campus values and the values of the greater society.”
   
   
2. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Hillel, the American Jewish Committee, and the Jewish Federation of Orange County “have not effectively represented the Jewish Community or Jewish students at UCI,” because they “have not held the University and its leadership accountable for its failure to support an environment conducive to all students.” The Task Force specifically exempted the ZOA from these conclusions.
   
   
3. Anti-Semitic acts on the UCI campus “are real and well-documented. Jewish students have been harassed. Hate speech has been unrelenting.”
   
   
4. The Muslim Student Union, a registered student group at UCI that is responsible for regularly sponsoring anti-Semitic and anti-Israel speakers and programs on campus, “is agenda driven and unchecked by the bounds of propriety. It allies and identifies itself with terrorist groups that are enemies of the United States.

In the midst of all the turmoil on our campuses and the attacks upon Jewish students, Joshua Namm, a former member of the Jewish Federation of San Diego, has written an article dated May 1, 2024 in Orange County Jewish Life to explain why he left that organization. I have added my own comments about the Jewish Federation of Orange County in the reader comments section.

In 2006, the Orange County Independent Task Force on Anti-Semitism was formed to investigate the complaints of anti-Semitism on the UC Irvine campus from Jewish students. In February 2008, they issued their report, which was posted here by the Louis D Brandeis Center. The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) also posted the report, as well as their own summary. That can be accessed here. The work of the Task Force was greatly supported by ZOA.

Yesterday, one of the leaders of the OC Independent Task Force on Anti-Semitism sent me the above three links to illustrate that not much has changed at UC Irvine since the 2008 report was issued. As for the 4 points above (from the Task Force report and noted by ZOA), the only things that have changed are the emergence of the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter in 2010 at UCI, the name of the chancellor, and the names of the leaders of the above organizations. SJP has largely taken over the front and center position from the MSU in terms of protest and disruptions though they share many members. I should note that UCI Hillel was a co-organizer of the Holocaust Remembrance March at UCI on May 6, 2024. That is good, but many of us feel that, over the years, the organization has been too timid on the UCI campus. Hopefully, that is changing but I am still withholding judgment.

But the bottom line is this: Not much has changed during the past couple of decades. If anything, it is now worse than ever.