March 13, 2015 — New York, New York
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 antisemitic incidents at UCLA and UC Davis.
Napolitano and Varner, in a joint statement, condemned expressions of bigotry, particularly antisemitism, 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 antisemitic graffiti.
“Antisemitic 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 “antisemitism as repugnant, as is any other form of prejudice,” and for UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi’s condemnation of antisemitism 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 antisemitic 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.
