Western Today has just reported two heinous incidents of antisemitism on this campus which include the vandalism of books in the Jewish studies section of the library as well as the appearance this morning of a swastika on the office door of a member of our faculty. As Faculty Senate President, I wish to express my strongest condemnation of such hate acts against our community.
In the spring of 2016, the President convened the Task Force on Preventing and Responding to Antisemitism, which offered a “Final Report and Recommendations” in March 2017. I encourage faculty to take a look at this report which asserts:
“Antisemitism harms everyone by degrading the educational experience. It reduces complexity to the simplistic. It prejudges rather than welcoming new understanding. It marginalizes voices rather than broadening discussion. It drives intellectual and social wedges rather than building bridges. It scapegoats instead of exploring collective responsibility. Antisemitism is wholly incompatible with Western’s educational mission.”
It is especially important to pay attention to these recent incidents of antisemitism because that are not isolated incidents, as the Final Report from the Task Force indicates:
“From Spring Quarter 2016 through Winter Quarter 2017, the Equal Opportunity Office (EO Office) was made aware of 11 incidents involving acts of antisemitism, including the use of swastikas or other anti-Jewish symbols and/or hate language (e.g. Nazi vocabulary).”
You can find some resources both for reporting acts of hate and discrimination as well as for support for those who are victims of it in the report in Western Today.