SPME Board Supports UCSC’s Rossman-Benjamin’s Complaint Filing to The US Office of Civil Rights

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We, the undersigned members of the Board of Directors of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East support University of California at Santa Cruz’ lecturer Tammi Rossman-Benjamin’s recent filing of a complaint with the United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights alleging that UC Santa Cruz has maintained a hostile environment towards Jewish students in violation of U.S. federal civil rights law.

We further commend the Office for Civil Rights for announcing that it would open an investigation into the serious allegations raised in Professor Rossman-Benjamin’s complaint. This announcement sends an important signal to higher education officials that they must be attentive to campus activities that harass or intimidate students on the basis of prohibited classifications. We acknowledge that this investigation has been made possible by the important October 2010 Office for Civil Rights guidance letter which establishes policy clarifications which had been urged by Scholars for Peace in the Middle East.

We further encourage all faculty members throughout the world where there are actionable instances of anti-Semitism and intimidation to take necessary and effective actions to remedy the situation. In some cases, this may require the submission of formal complaints with appropriate campus bodies or governmental agencies. Given the courage necessary to take such steps, it is important that faculty whistle-blowers be given full protection from any form of retaliation.

Expressions of anti-Semitism and incitement to commit genocide have no place on college and university campuses. Faculty members should follow Professor Rossman-Benjamin’s example by focusing appropriate scrutiny on impediments to equal opportunity and full inclusion for students of all backgrounds wherever they arise.

Adopted by the SPME Board of Directors, March 29, 2011

Steve Albert Ph.D., MPH, University of Pittsburgh
Edward S. Beck, Walden University, SPME President Emeritus
Ruth Lichtenberg-Contreras, Ph.D., SPME Secretary, Austria
Richard Cravatts, Ph.D., Boston University
Stanley Dubinsky, Ph.D., Universityof South Carolina, SPME Vice President for External Relations
Joel Fishman, Ph.D., Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
Peter J. Haas, Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University, SPME President
Judith S. Jacobson, Dr. P.H, Columbia University, SPME Vice President for Internal Relations
Kenneth L. Marcus, JD., Baruch College of the City of New York
David Menashri, Ph.D., Tel Aviv University
G.S. Don Morris, Ph.D., Wingate Institute and California Polytechnic Institute-Pomona
Donna Robinson Divine, Ph.D., Smith College
Tammi Rossman Benjamin, Ph.D., University of California-Santa Cruz
Philip Carl Salzman, Ph.D., McGill University
Ralf R. Schumann, MD, Charité Berlin
Ernest Sternberg, Ph.D., State University of New York at Buffalo

SPME Board Supports UCSC’s Rossman-Benjamin’s Complaint Filing to The US Office of Civil Rights

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