Coping with On Campus Hate
[I sent the following to a friend who is concerned with hate (particularly anti-Semitism) on national campuses. Ed Kent]
Below I am posting a Columbia Spectator article on a low key effort to combat hate on campus -- you will recall that a Columbia faculty member was a Horowitz target.
When we had a comparable conflict at Brooklyn College several decades back -- we had Meir Kahane attacking from one direction and some outsiders distributing the Protocols from the other extreme -- we, faculty and students, not administrators who were initially suspicious, formed what was called the Multicultural Action Committee (MAC) which actively worked on resolving tensions. Renate Bridenthal (Holocaust refugee as a child and noted historian of same) did an exposé of the Protocols with students for wide distribution. MAC sponsored a number of things, e.g. panels re the conflict in Israel/Palestine attended by both Jewish and Muslim students. Needless to say the students were better at getting it together than some of their more embittered elders.
In this vein I would hope that efforts to resist anti-Semitism will not try to go it alone in dealing with hate.
Best, Ed
.............
Anti-Hate Group Rallies on Low Plaza
SHOCC Holds Afternoon Demonstrations, Meetings With Administrators
By Laura Brunts
Spectator Staff Writer
April 06, 2006
Some students just walked by, while others approached those dressed in black to take fliers and ask questions. Yet regardless of each individual’s response, the ad-hoc coalition Stop Hate on Columbia’s Campus got what they were looking for yesterday: something students would be unable to ignore.
Like the race-related protests two years ago on the Low steps, SHOCC’s demonstration forced anyone walking across campus—Columbia students, administrators, visiting high-schoolers—to pay attention to issues they may not have otherwise known about. But unlike the protestors in 2004, these students, though dressed in black, did not sit in silence.
Diverging from their plan to set up phone banks and have students call President Bollinger, SHOCC leaders decided that Tuesday’s circle demonstration was so successful they repeated the concept on a larger scale for Wednesday afternoon’s rally.
Leaders of SHOCC and other supporters formed circles on Low plaza to discuss the demands and individual students’ experiences with marginalization on campus. Anthony Walker, CC ’07 and a member of SHOCC designated to speak to the press, said that there were as many as six or seven circles at points during the day. SHOCC members chose this type of demonstration to enable them to interact more with curious students.
“People feel that protestors in general are screaming slogans and waving signs in their faces. We’re not trying to force anything on anybody,” Christien Tompkins, CC ’08 and a SHOCC member, said. “We were pleasantly surprised by how many people would just come up and join the circles ... and just talk. People really had a good feeling after it was over.”
Throughout the week, while SHOCC members canvassed the dorms and held planning meetings at night, many of the same students were in meetings with administrators during the day.
A group met with Columbia College Dean Austin Quigley, Dean of Student Affairs Chris Colombo, Dean of Academic Affairs Kathryn Yatrakis, and other administrators to discuss changes in the Core Curriculum. Other students met with Colombo, Associate Dean of Student Affairs Kevin Shollenberger, and Assistant Dean of Multicultural Affairs Melissa Aquino about expanding the Intercultural Resource Center and creating more safety on campus.
During the day Wednesday, University Chaplain Jewelnel Davis and Colombo both made appearances on the plaza to support the students.
“They were not participating with us, but the fact that they were out there, that they were recognizing what we were doing, and that someone noticed ... we were making our voices heard,” Walker said. He said the group received no response from the central administration during the day.
A written statement issued to Spectator Wednesday night emphasized Columbia’s commitment to the incredible diversity of the University and to condemning acts that are “not acceptable within our community’s standards.”
The statement also discussed the student leadership summit to be held this Thursday and Friday which will “find ways to ensure that our campus is both safe for all of our community’s members and, more importantly, is supportive of them.”
Walker said that the group’s future actions will depend on the administration’s response to yesterday’s demonstration. “We’re committed to continuing action if we don’t see the kind of response we want,” he said.
Owen Hearey contributed to this article.
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort
to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy)
--
Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
http://BlogByEdKent.blogspot.com/
http://www.bloggernews.net
Below I am posting a Columbia Spectator article on a low key effort to combat hate on campus -- you will recall that a Columbia faculty member was a Horowitz target.
When we had a comparable conflict at Brooklyn College several decades back -- we had Meir Kahane attacking from one direction and some outsiders distributing the Protocols from the other extreme -- we, faculty and students, not administrators who were initially suspicious, formed what was called the Multicultural Action Committee (MAC) which actively worked on resolving tensions. Renate Bridenthal (Holocaust refugee as a child and noted historian of same) did an exposé of the Protocols with students for wide distribution. MAC sponsored a number of things, e.g. panels re the conflict in Israel/Palestine attended by both Jewish and Muslim students. Needless to say the students were better at getting it together than some of their more embittered elders.
In this vein I would hope that efforts to resist anti-Semitism will not try to go it alone in dealing with hate.
Best, Ed
.............
Anti-Hate Group Rallies on Low Plaza
SHOCC Holds Afternoon Demonstrations, Meetings With Administrators
By Laura Brunts
Spectator Staff Writer
April 06, 2006
Some students just walked by, while others approached those dressed in black to take fliers and ask questions. Yet regardless of each individual’s response, the ad-hoc coalition Stop Hate on Columbia’s Campus got what they were looking for yesterday: something students would be unable to ignore.
Like the race-related protests two years ago on the Low steps, SHOCC’s demonstration forced anyone walking across campus—Columbia students, administrators, visiting high-schoolers—to pay attention to issues they may not have otherwise known about. But unlike the protestors in 2004, these students, though dressed in black, did not sit in silence.
Diverging from their plan to set up phone banks and have students call President Bollinger, SHOCC leaders decided that Tuesday’s circle demonstration was so successful they repeated the concept on a larger scale for Wednesday afternoon’s rally.
Leaders of SHOCC and other supporters formed circles on Low plaza to discuss the demands and individual students’ experiences with marginalization on campus. Anthony Walker, CC ’07 and a member of SHOCC designated to speak to the press, said that there were as many as six or seven circles at points during the day. SHOCC members chose this type of demonstration to enable them to interact more with curious students.
“People feel that protestors in general are screaming slogans and waving signs in their faces. We’re not trying to force anything on anybody,” Christien Tompkins, CC ’08 and a SHOCC member, said. “We were pleasantly surprised by how many people would just come up and join the circles ... and just talk. People really had a good feeling after it was over.”
Throughout the week, while SHOCC members canvassed the dorms and held planning meetings at night, many of the same students were in meetings with administrators during the day.
A group met with Columbia College Dean Austin Quigley, Dean of Student Affairs Chris Colombo, Dean of Academic Affairs Kathryn Yatrakis, and other administrators to discuss changes in the Core Curriculum. Other students met with Colombo, Associate Dean of Student Affairs Kevin Shollenberger, and Assistant Dean of Multicultural Affairs Melissa Aquino about expanding the Intercultural Resource Center and creating more safety on campus.
During the day Wednesday, University Chaplain Jewelnel Davis and Colombo both made appearances on the plaza to support the students.
“They were not participating with us, but the fact that they were out there, that they were recognizing what we were doing, and that someone noticed ... we were making our voices heard,” Walker said. He said the group received no response from the central administration during the day.
A written statement issued to Spectator Wednesday night emphasized Columbia’s commitment to the incredible diversity of the University and to condemning acts that are “not acceptable within our community’s standards.”
The statement also discussed the student leadership summit to be held this Thursday and Friday which will “find ways to ensure that our campus is both safe for all of our community’s members and, more importantly, is supportive of them.”
Walker said that the group’s future actions will depend on the administration’s response to yesterday’s demonstration. “We’re committed to continuing action if we don’t see the kind of response we want,” he said.
Owen Hearey contributed to this article.
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort
to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy)
--
Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
http://BlogByEdKent.blogspot.com/
http://www.bloggernews.net
posted by Ed Kent at 8:23 AM
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