The Turmoil Continues at Rutgers

Hat tip Campus Reform, College Professors United for Jews and Israel, and Canary Mission.

Of all the major American universities that have problems with anti-Semitism on campus, Rutgers is among the worst. This site is full of articles about anti-Semitism at Rutgers that go back several years. In the midst of all the criticism and the Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights launching an investigation into accusations of anti-Semitism (and Islamophobia, of course), the president of the university, Jonathan Holloway, has announced he will leave his post after the 2024-2025 school year. It can't come fast enough. The school has also come under the microscope of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, headed by Virginia Foxx (R-NC). Clearly, drastic change is need at Rutgers.

It should be noted here that Rutgers is home to Professor Jasbir Puar, long accused of making public statements that are considered anti-Semitic. To be sure, Rutgers has had other similarly-minded professors over the past several years, like Africana Studies professor  Noura Erakat and microbiology professor Michael Chakindas, the latter of whom allegedly was a fan of stereotyped images of Jews, hooked noses, and all that stuff.

Here is what my friends at the Amcha Initiative have to say about Rutgers from their database of campus anti-Semitism. It isn't pretty.

In addition, within the law school, there is a group called the Center for Security, Race, and Rights (CSRR), which is under fire for allegedly exacerbating the problem of anti-Semitism on campus. One look at their website, and it is clear that this center is dedicated to pushing the anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian agenda, as well as complaints about Islamophobia. Its director, Sahar Aziz, has been widely criticized for controversial comments she has made in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attack and massacres by Hamas. Presently, CSRR is hosting a series of lectures devoted to the above conflict, a program that is also drawing fire from critics concerned about anti-Semitism on the Rutgers campus. One wonders why the law school of a "prestigious" university like Rutgers would host such a group under its umbrella.

Then again, should we really be surprised?