Is anti-Semitism a problem at Stanford? - Printable Version
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Is anti-Semitism a problem at Stanford? - CornFed - 04-15-2015
https://www.commentarymagazine.com/2015/04/15/bds-drops-its-veil-campus-anti-semitism-stanford-university/
Is Tobin making a mountain out of a molehill? I'm not naive. I know this dynamic is common on college campuses. But I was just hoping it wasn't this bad at Stanford.
Re: Is anti-Semitism a problem at Stanford? - BostonCard - 04-15-2015
Here's a version of events from The Stanford Review:
http://stanfordreview.org/article/allegations-of-anti-semitism-levied-against-socc-leadership-in-assu-elections/
Apparently, what was said/asked is under dispute.
If Horowitz assertions are accurate, I agree the preface referring to her Jewish identity was unnecessary. However, I'm not entirely sure where the outrage is coming from, since it appears Horowitz repeatedly referenced her identity in her application, and the implication in at least some of her statements was that her Jewish identity influenced her ability to advocate for disadvantaged groups. It was a clumsy question, but I don't think it is necessarily evidence of antisemitism.
BC
Re: Is anti-Semitism a problem at Stanford? - CornFed - 04-15-2015
It seems to me that since the question referencing her Jewish identity was specifically directed at determining whether or not she could be neutral on the issue of divestment, that it was a legitimate inquiry. There is much additional information and perspective in the Daily article and those to which it links. At this point, I am thinking Tobin is stretching a bit to get to the allegations he raises.
The contract that the student was asked to sign may be another matter, and potentially more serious. But until it is determined that the contract itself stipulates that someone signing it refrain from associating with Jewish groups, or that it was, indeed, verbally stipulated, we really won't know which side has crossed a line.
Re: Is anti-Semitism a problem at Stanford? - CTcard - 04-15-2015
This made it to the NY Times yesterday.
Knew I would see it here soon.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/us/student-coalition-at-stanford-confronts-allegations-of-anti-semitism.html?_r=0
Re: Is anti-Semitism a problem at Stanford? - BostonCard - 04-15-2015
I'm not sure what you mean by remaining "neutral on the issue of divestment". Neutral would mean to not have an opinion; but all of the member institutions of the SOCC supported divestment. So I suspect that they didn't want someone who was neutral on the issue. Perhaps you meant "impartial", although I suspect that it would be impossible to be impartial on something so inherently emotional, and that likely applies to Jews and non-Jews alike.
By the way, here is the SOCC's response, as an op-ed in the Daily:
http://www.stanforddaily.com/2015/04/13/confronting-baseless-allegations-the-socc-endorsement-process/
Interesting comments. I think this one is the one I most agree with:
Quote:Alice 2 hours ago
This is sad, and I hope most of the Stanford community sees it for what it is:
Horowitz felt attacked/discriminated against because of a question, and reacted emotionally based on an internalized history of antisemitism
The SOCC felt attacked because of her allegation, and reacted emotionally because of an internalized history of racism and (actual) smear campaigns.
In this case, I truly don't believe either party is acting in bad faith.
It's unfortunate that people acting out the same pain would not recognize that reaction in each other...
BC
Re: Is anti-Semitism a problem at Stanford? - 82lsju - 04-15-2015
and here's the piece written by Molly Horwitz
http://www.stanforddaily.com/2015/04/13/if-i-am-not-for-myself-who-will-be-for-me/
Re: Is anti-Semitism a problem at Stanford? - BostonCard - 04-15-2015
Thanks Eric...
Again, the commentary was interesting, for lack of a better word. The issue raises passions, and sadly brings out the worst in some people. I wasn't too bothered about the question of Horowitz, though (if her account is accurate) the reference to her religion was unnecessary. But for an example of what true antisemitism is like, you can see it in a couple of the comments.
BC
Re: Is anti-Semitism a problem at Stanford? - CowboyIndian - 04-15-2015
Any relation to Steve Horowitz '71, Rose Bowl hero?
Re: Is anti-Semitism a problem at Stanford? - Ronnietrader - 04-15-2015
For what it's worth, given the recent events (Horowitz, divestment vote, the alleged campus climate Jews are facing), neither my wife nor I, both of whom are active alumni and Jewish, would never have applied Stanford if we were current high school seniors. Such sentiment is likely concerning the school's administration and likely why the Board of Trustees sternly rejected the ASSU's recomendation to divest from Israel.
Re: Is anti-Semitism a problem at Stanford? - 82lsju - 04-15-2015
(04-15-2015, 07:05 PM)CowboyIndian link Wrote:Any relation to Steve Horowitz '71, Rose Bowl hero?
unlikely since her name is Molly Horwitz
Re: Is anti-Semitism a problem at Stanford? - fullmetal - 04-15-2015
I attended a panel chaired by Howard Wolf that included Richard Shaw this last weekend at Stanford. The admissions office has received a lot of feedback from very concerned Jewish parents. Also, Wolf stated that the university's investment vehicles are not to be used for political statements and that it was unlikely that this particular divestment would occur. The recent coal divestment, however, did meet the standard for "substantial social harm" and was also not a political statement, and thus it was approved.
It was mentioned during the panel that students who were "Stanford material" would hopefully not shy away from uncomfortable conversations or challenging situations such as might arise for Jewish students during these times. I think the panel was clear that they did not support anti-Semitism. This article was not published in time for last weekend's panel to comments.
As a student of color, I often found that the SOCC did not represent me and that their tactics grated on me. It seems nothing has changed :( I continue, however, to support diversity and progress despite the SOCC.
Re: Is anti-Semitism a problem at Stanford? - 82lsju - 04-15-2015
on divestment
For the last several months, Stanford has been evaluating a request submitted by Stanford Students for Justice in Palestine that it divest its endowment holdings of certain companies that do business in Israel. The Board concluded that the university's mission and its responsibility to support and encourage diverse opinions would be compromised by endorsing an institutional position on either side of an issue as complex as the Israel-Palestine conflict. Therefore the Board will not be taking action on this request, nor will it consider this request further.
https://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/april/divestment-trustees-decision-041415.html
Re: Is anti-Semitism a problem at Stanford? - stupac2 - 04-16-2015
Identity politics doesn't interest me enough to slog through all of these links, but I will say that I continued my streak of somehow surrounding myself with Jewish friends during my time at Stanford, and I never heard of nor personally witnessed anything among the broader student body that makes me think antisemitism is a problem. I suppose it's possible that that's changed, but it seems vanishingly unlikely to me. I find it really hard to believe that a 17-year-old Jewish applicant would really think that Stanford would be a hostile place to be.
Re: Is anti-Semitism a problem at Stanford? - CornFed - 04-16-2015
The links did provide information suggesting that Jewish alumni have been contacting the administration to express concern. It is implied that the current controversy was essentially the trigger to prompt them to act due to a simmering sense that the environment at Stanford for Jews was changing for the worse. It is likely that these are preliminary inquiries and may not really be based on empirical evidence, but rather upon anecdotal information. Nonetheless, I have never known of this to be an issue at Stanford since I became connected to the school. I share the concerns of those who are trying to ascertain the possibility that political/policy issues might be spilling into the cultural interactions of the community.
Re: Is anti-Semitism a problem at Stanford? - Ronnietrader - 04-16-2015
Antisemitism has risen over campuses across the country over the past few years, in particular on the West Coast as many in the "progressive" community view Israel as a colonial, racist, aggressor. Hence, many programs/displays/student government motions have targeted Israel which flirts and often crosses the line of antisemitism. Many Jewish students have cited cases of bullying. That being said, I NEVER encountered antisemitism as a student but that was 25 years ago. Stanford has always had a much lower percentage of Jews than the Ivies given the proximity to the NYC area for the latter. There are movements among the student population to divest there, but they have always failed.
Re: Is anti-Semitism a problem at Stanford? - pauloalto - 04-16-2015
(04-16-2015, 09:20 AM)garvin link Wrote:Many of my Jewish friends at Stanford believed, strongly, that the University had a "Jewish quota," a cap on the number of Jews who could be admitted. None of them had anything that could even charitably called evidence. At the time, I was skeptical. I still am, but the disclosures over the years that some of the Ivies did have caps on Jewish admissions earlier in the 20th century has made me think it's not crazy to wonder if Stanford did the same.
In terms of the student body, I wasn't aware of any discernible current of anti-Semitism, but it's not something I would have been extremely sensitive to. Talk of divestment in those days centered on firms doing a lot of business with DoD (in the early 70s) and South Africa (in the mid-70s). I don't recall a single instance of Israel coming up in those conversations back then.
When I applied to Stanford back in the sixties we had to send a photo along with our application. Universities in in some other states were not allowed by state law to require photographs. I was later told by a friend that requiring photographs was one way of screening for prospective racial mixes. I can't say for sure whether or not Stanford screened in this way, but a friend in my freshman dorm sent a picture of his dog and he got in OK, so it can't have been that serious.
And did Stanford disinvest in companies that did business in South Africa? I don't think they did.
Re: Is anti-Semitism a problem at Stanford? - CTcard - 04-16-2015
(04-16-2015, 09:45 AM)Ronnietrader link Wrote:Stanford has always had a much lower percentage of Jews than the Ivies given the proximity to the NYC area for the latter. There are movements among the student population to divest there, but they have always failed.
As they have failed at Stanford, rather emphatically given how I read the statement from the trustees.
Stanford did decide to divest from coal companies in 2014, didn't divest from companies associated with South Africa in the 70s-80s.
There are a bunch of interesting articles on the 1977 protests at Stanford asking for divestment from South Africa. That seems to be remembered fondly by those who took part, though Stanford never actually divested from South Africa. Some years later, in 1985, Stanford did create a list of guidelines for investments in companies that did business in South Africa. It's never been clear to me what, if any, effect those guidelines had, but Stanford did not do any wholesale divesting.
From the wasn't it great side:
http://www.vernalproject.org/papers/change/SCRIPHist.pdf
From the it wasn't so great side:
http://stanfordreview.org/article/divestment-37-years-later-a-history-of-stanfords-divestment/
Re: Is anti-Semitism a problem at Stanford? - 82lsju - 04-16-2015
(04-16-2015, 10:46 AM)CTcard link Wrote:Stanford did decide to divest from coal companies in 2014
the original request was to divest from fossil fuel companies which was not done by the BOT but on coal companies
"Acting on a recommendation of Stanford's Advisory Panel on Investment Responsibility and Licensing, the Board of Trustees announced that Stanford will not make direct investments in coal mining companies. The move reflects the availability of alternate energy sources with lower greenhouse gas emissions than coal.
Stanford University will not make direct investments of endowment funds in publicly traded companies whose principal business is the mining of coal for use in energy generation, the Stanford Board of Trustees decided today."
https://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/may/divest-coal-trustees-050714.html
Re: Is anti-Semitism a problem at Stanford? - gocard14 - 04-16-2015
One of the issues that tends to arise is that it can be difficult to separate appropriate criticism from possible anti-semetic motivation behind it. Many American Jews (myself included) are highly critical of Israel's current policies regarding West Bank settlements, approach (or lack thereof) to a two state solution, etc. There are many legitimate criticisms to make.
Where things get dicy, however is that Israel is uniquely criticized among all countries. The UN has passed hundreds of condemnations of Israel and few to none regarding far more severe human rights abuses in other nations. This is true at Stanford as well. Where is the call for divestment from Russia for formenting war in Eastern Europe, from China for their various human rights abuses in Tibet, or from Syria (pre-ISIS) for the humanitarian disasters occurring there?
The fact that other countries abuse human rights more then Israel in no way justifies their actions, but it does make me wary of those who criticize them
Bloody hell - Redrum - 04-16-2015
I read until I just couldn't read any more. But now I can say that I've read quoted parts of the Hamas founding charter...so, there's that. And the contract with the SOCC. Reminds me of classic Chicago or Tammany politics, only they were briefer in their message: You are bought and by God you'll stay bought."
What is it about the most minor of benefit that ( surprisingly often) makes people fight like it's life or death. Over an endorsement?Â