The conflict between Israel and Hamas has escalated tensions on U.S. college campuses, compelling college presidents to express their opinions on complex geopolitical developments, often to widespread backlash. Critics contend that college administrators have been silent, have spoken too soon, or have expressed implicit biases, Inside Higher Ed reports. College presidents find it challenging to handle this situation without upsetting benefactors and trustees, alienating student organizations, or igniting a reaction. The problem may cost universities millions of dollars in lost donations. College presidents are expected to make views on significant and contentious global events since they are seen as public intellectuals and moral leaders. However, several institutional leaders and high-ranking officials, such as Williams College President Maud Mandel, have called attention to the risks of speaking up and questioned whether university presidents have an obligation to issue public statements on global conflicts.
Students and community members at colleges and universities across the country participated in “Day of Resistance” protests coordinated by Students for Justice in Palestine, The Chronicle reports. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators and counter-protesters clashed throughout the emotional protests. Over 500 college presidents have received warnings from ten organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League and Hillel International, to protect Jewish students. They have been urged to implement additional security measures, offer mental and emotional support, and denounce language that glorifies violence.
As colleges and universities in the U.S. grapple with taking a stance on the Israel-Hamas war, donors are pulling their support from universities, Inside Higher Ed reports. The Wexner Foundation, a philanthropic organization, has ended its financial relationships with Harvard University and the Kennedy School of Government. Drexel University President John Fry has been criticized for what some consider an insufficient condemnation of Hamas attacks. The University of Pennsylvania’s President, Elizabeth Magill, has likewise been criticized for her perceived failure to outright condemn antisemitism, and tens of thousands of people have signed a petition calling on Columbia University to dismiss a professor whose essay appeared to support Hamas’s attacks on Israel. The full implications for university endowments remain to be seen as donors continue to react to university statements on the conflict.
The law firm Winston & Strawn rescinded a job offer to a New York University law student in light of “inflammatory comments” on Hamas’s attack on Israel, The New York Times reports. In a statement on the attack, Ryna Workman, president of the Student Bar Association, claimed that “state-sanctioned violence created the conditions that made resistance necessary” and refused to condemn Hamas. The Student Bar Association is conducting a “vote of no confidence” survey and working to remove Workman from office as president. The group has also urged NYU to take greater steps to safeguard the safety and privacy of its students.
Cornell University administrators denounced an associate history professor’s comments that the recent Hamas attack on Israelis “exhilarated” him, Inside Higher Ed reports. Russell Rickford, who made the controversial remarks at a pro-Palestine rally last week, sparked criticism on Cornell’s campus and on social media. Online petitions demand Rickford be fired. In a joint statement with the Board of Trustees, Cornell President Martha Pollack condemned Rickford’s statement as “a reprehensible comment that demonstrates no regard whatsoever for humanity.”