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Outside the Purple Rubble
1. WIFI Discrimination Scandal. The news about the Williams College Council’s decision to deny WIFI’s request for RSO status continues to ignite protests. Ironically, Maud Mandel has become both a hero and a villain in this matter.
Jewish Journal: StandWithUs Calls on Williams College to Formally Recognize Pro-Israel Group
Letter: Academic Engagement Network’s Complains to Maud Mandel
Breitbart: Williams College President Blasts Student Government for Rejecting Pro-Israel Group
Fire: Williams College Council denies recognition to pro-Israel student group
Forward: Williams College Council Votes Against Recognizing Pro-Israel Student Club
Letter: Zionist Organization of America
Campus Reform: Mass. college council rejects pro-Israel student group
The Times of Israel: College president ‘disappointed’ after student council rejects pro-Israel group
Inside Higher Ed: Pro-Israel Student Group ‘Silenced’ at Williams
Hotair: Student Government At Williams College Refused To Recognize A Pro-Israel Group
2. Affinity Housing. Andrew Sullivan chimes in on the April 9 rant and the new segregation movement at Williams. Look for the second segment of this article. Jerry Coyne, a biologist at the University of Chicago, is also maintaining a focus on the antics of Williams.
Andrew Sullivan: The Deeper Risk of Radical Multiculturalism
Jerry Coyne: Black students at Williams College favor self-segregated housing
3. Free Speech. Professor Luana Maroja’s concerns about her ability to teach biology on a woke campus inspire additional comments, again from the prolific Jerry Coyne.
Jerry Coyne: A Williams College professor describes her school’s fight against free speech
4. Fighting Professors. Katie Kent and Dorothy Wang got into a public dispute about racism. One students was so traumatized that they think about the altercation in the middle of the night.
Jerry Coyne: Williams College melts down in a big way
5. CSS Fights for Redemption. Nancy MacCauley, a black campus safety and security (CSS) officer, pushes back against the CARE Now leaders who are offended when CSS does its job.
Jerry Coyne: Williams College melts down in a big way
College Council Bad
In other news today, Maud Mandel defended the students who sought to establish a new pro-Israel student organization Williams Initiative for Israel (WIFI).
The Williams College Council turned down their application by a vote of 13-8-1 on April 23, 2019. The result was dismaying to pro-Israel factions on campus, in part, because it is nearly the only club to be denied status as a recognized student organization over the last decade. During that meeting, the founders of WIFI were also hammered with at least two anti-Semitic comments. These comments were observed by the parliamentarian, but not entered into the meeting minutes.
In a message today, Maud defended the club and appears to agree that the founders of the club were improperly treated by the College Council. She pulls no punches:
The transcript of the debate and vote indicate that the decision was made on political grounds.
In doing so, Council departed from its own process for reviewing student groups, which at no point identifies a proposed group’s politics as a criterion for review. The decision also seems to be in tension with CC bylaws, especially Article V, Section 3: “Prohibition Against Discrimination in Student Organizations.”
In her statement, Maud appeared to follow the lead of the WIFI students who condemned the outcome of the meeting and asserted in a Williams Record op-ed that their club “was denied official status on purely political grounds, as CC members and guests fought to silence us and effectively turned the meeting into a referendum on Israeli-Palestinian politics.” This unprecedented, politically motivated decision has attracted condemnation off campus too.
The Algemeiner – Williams College Student Leaders Deny Recognition to ‘Pro-Israel’ Group, Prompting Calls for Inquiry
Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, head of the campus antisemitism monitor AMCHA Initiative, called the incident “a case of blatant discrimination and shameless intolerance.”
Yael Lerman, legal director at the Israel education and advocacy organization StandWithUs, likewise called on the university to investigate the CC’s vote.
Commentary – At Williams College, Zionists Need Not Apply: The Hall of Shame
Jonathan Marks, professor of politics at Ursinus College, “When much of the faculty at Williams signed a petition to adopt the University of Chicago’s powerful statement on free expression, which has been a model for more than fifty schools, some student protesters claimed the faculty was trying to kill them. In response to the controversy, President Maud Mandel put together a committee to “develop policies and an overarching philosophy about campus speakers and free expression.” It is perhaps too much to hope that this committee, whose report is expected this month, will attend to discrimination against pro-Israel speech at Williams.”
Jewish Journal – Williams College Pro-Israel Group Denied Recognition
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Simon Wiesenthal Center associate dean and director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Global Action Agenda, said in a statement to the Journal that the council’s decision was “anti-Semitism on full display at Williams College. Apparently [there’s] no room for lovers of Zion and Israel among the bigots who control the vote. Where are the adults in the room?”
The College Fix – Williams College president blasts student government for refusing to recognize pro-Israel group
Academic Engagement Network, which opposes the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, wrote a letter to President Mandel to urge her “to take immediate action to reverse the decision of the CC and to give WIFI the RSO recognition that it deserves.”
A former Williams professor, KC Johnson, tweeted this decision is an embarrassment for the institution.
Pamela Geller tweeted: “Out and out Jew hatred. Plain and simple. Terror-tied groups like SJP (Students for Justice in Palestine) run amok on campuses. There is a plague afoot.”
Joe Scarborough tweeted: “Given the growing antisemitic attacks in the US, and the historical hostility of many elite colleges toward the Jewish state created following the Holocaust, this is deeply disturbing. Mika and I love @WilliamsCollege. We hope this is investigated.”
Full text of Maud Mandel’s statement after the break.
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