Imagine you're a lowly grad student teaching your very first course. Now imagine that a US Representative writes a letter to your university threatening to strip federal funding if they don't fire you immediately.
Your crime? Tweets.
budd.house.gov/news/documents…
Your crime? Tweets.
budd.house.gov/news/documents…
The school is UNC Chapel Hill. In 2019, the OCR launched a Title VI investigation into that school and Duke over a joint conference on Gaza. Complaints were filed over the subject matter and a musical performance that were perceived as antisemitic.
dailycaller.com/2019/06/18/dev…
dailycaller.com/2019/06/18/dev…
As part of its attempt to resolve that complaint, UNC vowed to take steps to ensure that Jewish students did not feel unwelcome at the school or unable to enjoy its educational opportunities. Laudable and good. But to the unscrupulous, this was an opportunity to exploit.
In this case, it was UNC's decision to offer a course by a graduate student on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The student herself has tweeted that she personally sides with the Palestinians and feels that their side is the "right" side. Cue the outrage.
According to Mark Goldfeder of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, letting the student teach the course amounted to a violation of state and federal law.
jewishjournal.com/commentary/340…
jewishjournal.com/commentary/340…
StandWithUs, a risable group that purports to oppose antisemitism, sent a letter to UNC demanding that it investigate the course, change its number of course credits, and create a separate course to "balance" it out.
standwithus.com/post/standwith…
standwithus.com/post/standwith…
But never to be outdone, Mort Klein of ZOA filed a formal complaint with the OCR, insisting that because the course was (according to him) anti-Semitic under the IHRA definition of that term, it violated UNC's obligations under Title VI.
zoa.org/2021/08/104439…
zoa.org/2021/08/104439…
Which more or less brings us up to today. So far, UNC has let the course go forward, correctly noting that students and faculty are free to say whatever they like on their own time and on their own twitter accounts. Good for UNC.
But intervention by a US Rep, especially a local one like Budd, is a whole 'nother level of pressure. And as we all know, the UNC system is highly vulnerable to political pressure from the Right.
This is one to keep an eye on.
This is one to keep an eye on.
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