|
|
May 17, 2024
To Chancellor García, Acting President Evans, Provost Moranski, Vice President Jones, and the Sonoma State community For weeks, Sonoma State Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP-SSU) engaged in peaceful, sustained, and courageous protest at their Solidarity Encampment to call for an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on the people of Gaza. After multiple negotiations between SJP-SSU and Sonoma State University administration representatives, President Mike Lee issued a brave and clear call for five actions on May 14. In that agreement, President Lee stated that he “appreciated the civility and respect that centered our conversations, which opened the door to new ideas and opportunities.” He added that “student activism, protest, and dissent in service of social and political change are key democratic principles that allow us to imagine a more perfect union—“not only for ourselves, but also for others.” President Lee was remarkable in not only listening to and negotiating with students and faculty, but also rejecting the threat of police repression. On May 15, the Chancellor's Office announced that President Lee was put on leave for “insubordination.” On May 16, SSU’s Academic Senate passed a resolution calling for the reinstatement of President Lee. Later that afternoon, the SSU Interim President announced President Lee’s retirement. The undersigned faculty and staff condemn the Chancellor’s decision to put President Lee on leave. We also reject her characterization of Lee's courageous support of his students as “insubordination.” The Chancellor's authoritarian and repressive actions represent a dangerous precedent against campus autonomy in governance and is just one example of a larger pattern of attempts to silence and repress those who take principled positions against genocide and for a free Palestine. We urge the Chancellor to embrace a leadership that centers CSU’s students, faculty and staff and protects human rights, freedom of speech, and university-based actions against injustice and genocide. In addition, the undersigned have been deeply troubled by statements in the media, by politicians, and on social media that have characterized Sonoma State’s hard work toward calling for a ceasefire, institutional accountability, and expanded academic engagement with Palestine Studies as “antisemitic.” Such misrepresentation is irresponsible and untrue. It exposes student organizers to potential violence, and ignores the firm stance that President Lee and SJP-SSU activists, including its Jewish students, have taken against antisemitism. To be clear: this work is not against the Jewish people. It is against an increasingly authoritarian and violent state that continues to decimate the people of Palestine, including families and children, with impunity. We reject the false claim that supporting the Jewish people requires the embrace of these violent state actions. In the context of socially conscious student activism where there are expressions of genuine disagreement, accusations of racism and antisemitism based on “feelings of discomfort” are attempts to silence dissent. Racism and antisemitism are asymmetrical social relationships based on race, ethnicity and religion that impact the material conditions of communities across the globe. In the United States, white supremacist groups are their main executors. Claims of antisemitism are currently being weaponized against legitimate, peaceful social mobilizations for the people of Palestine. The Chancellor’s Office and SSU’s administration must not be complicit in this tactic. We also urge the Chancellor and Acting SSU President to honor the May 14 agreement negotiated in good faith by students, President Lee, and the administration. The move to remove President Lee and call into question the legitimacy of the agreement has pushed our entire campus into fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. The undersigned call for immediate clarity and a positive resolution for the agreement so that we can collectively heal as a campus. Sincerely, Sonoma State University Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine Hear an interview with Professors Ron Lopez and Wendy DeSouza from Sonoma State University's Faculty for Justice in Palestine, the attack at UCLA,.
|
|