PSC President James Davis
September 24, 2024
Antisemitism is a real problem, and it must be confronted always and particularly in these times of intense polarization.
We welcome those recommendations from Judge Lippman that promote sincere dialogue across political differences and education about the history of antisemitism and other forms of discrimination/bias.
Students, faculty, and staff have a right to feel safe, welcome and respected at CUNY, regardless of their religion or ethnicity.
A public college campus that values honest academic discussion must protect safety, but cannot seek to guarantee an education free of uncomfortable ideas or to stifle students’ and employees’ rights of freedom of speech and assembly on campus. We are all here to be challenged and to develop through our interactions with others who do not share our backgrounds or opinions.
The report recommends CUNY “institute protocols to address, discipline, and remediate conduct and speech that violates CUNY’s policies and procedures:” Protocols to discipline university employees are a mandatory subject of collective bargaining and must uphold their academic freedom and rights to protected speech under the First Amendment. They must also uphold collectively bargained and constitutionally protected due-process rights. And the policies and procedures must be developed in a process that fully engages the CUNY community.
Finally, we agree with Judge Lippman that “CUNY does not need to formally adopt a definition of antisemitism in order to handle properly antisemitic incidents on its campuses.” Rather than adopting a single definition, our mission to foster critical thinking would be well served by grappling with the varying assumptions, framing and politics that shape the multiple definitions we encounter.
We thank Judge Lippman for his observation that “the vast majority of students and members of the CUNY community do not engage in antisemitism or discrimination of any kind and instead want only to access the quality education CUNY affords.”
Published: September 24, 2024
