Syracuse University Vice Chancellor and Provost Michele Wheatly on Tuesday detailed the university’s anti-discrimination policy after speakers made inflammatory remarks relating to Israeli and Palestinian groups at a public forum hosted by the Syracuse Peace Council last month.

SU did not sponsor the forum and none of the speakers at the event are employed by the university, Wheatly said in an SU News release Tuesday afternoon. She said recent reports have publicized that students can receive internship credit for working with the Syracuse Peace Council, but no current students have internships with them.

Only two students have had internships with the Syracuse Peace Council, the most recent being 2014, per the release.

Conservative news websites, including Campus Reform and Breitbart, have criticized SU for giving internship credit to students who work with the Syracuse Peace Council. Both websites called the organization “anti-Israel.”

Campus Reform is an online news organization that “exposes the liberal bias and abuse against conservatives on America’s colleges and universities,” according to its website.

The Syracuse Peace Council has hosted several events denouncing acts of violence against Palestinian protesters on the Gaza Strip.

The anti-discrimination policy does not tolerate anti-Semitism or degrading language or behavior of any individual or group, Wheatly said in the release.

“These are foundational values that drive our university initiatives and define our culture,” Wheatly said.

Wheatly said the university protects the community’s right to academic freedom. Campus community members have a right to discuss differences of opinion and express ideas in which “some or most of the members of the community strongly disagree,” she said.

The university encourages open discussion about peace and justice in the Middle East, and it does not support the boycott of Israeli academic institutions or faculty, Wheatly said.

Published on February 19, 2019 at 10:47 pm

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