AJC Praises University of California Leaders Response to Anti-Semitism on Campus

News provided by

Mar 13, 2015, 01:56 ET

NEW YORK, March 13, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a letter to University of California President Janet Napolitano and Board of Regents Chairman Bruce D. Varner, AJC has praised the UC leaders for their unequivocal condemnation of recent anti-Semitic incidents at UCLA and UC Davis.

Napolitano and Varner, in a joint statement, condemned expressions of bigotry, particularly anti-Semitism, directed against any members of the university community and reaffirmed the universal responsibility to preserve "bedrock values of respect, inclusion and civility."

The UC leaders specifically referred to recent incidents at UCLA where students tried to block a Jewish student from serving on the campus Judicial Board, and at UC Davis where a Jewish fraternity was defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti.

"Anti-Semitic incidents such as these, as well as bigotry directed against any members of the UC community because of their faith, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation, will not be tolerated," said Napolitano and Varner.

AJC also expressed appreciation for UCLA Chancellor Gene Block's condemnation of "anti-Semitism as repugnant, as is any other form of prejudice," and for UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi's condemnation of anti-Semitism as "repugnant and a gross violation of our values."

The "clear and unequivocal condemnation by the university chancellors in these cases is gratifying," wrote Steven Bayme, AJC Director of Contemporary Jewish Life, in the letter to Napolitano and Varner.

"Hopefully, this incident will serve as a wake-up call that anti-Semitic prejudice has by no means disappeared, and that university leaders need both to speak out in opposition and initiate educational programs to counter it," said Bayme.

AJC has engaged directly with Chancellors Block and Katehi. AJC Los Angeles met earlier this week with Block and initiated a dialogue with university leadership on how to enhance the campus climate positively. Katehi is a past participant in AJC's Project Interchange, which brings U.S. university presidents to Israel for educational seminars to gain a greater understanding of the country.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee