Anti-Israel protests on college campuses have been ongoing since the Israel-Hamas war began, and now the backlash has landed at an unlikely destination: Brandeis University. The president of Brandeis, Ronald Liebowitz, announced that he is resigning his position effective Nov. 1, following a vote of no confidence from the school’s board. While budgeting issues were the main reason for the vote, Liebowitz’s handling of anti-Israel, pro-Palestine protests on Brandeis’ campus was also cited as a major factor for his ousting.
The fact that anti-Israel protests were prevalent at Brandeis may be surprising to some, given that it is a historically Jewish university. While Brandeis is officially secular, it was founded by Jews and implements a “set of values that are rooted in Jewish history and experience,” according to the university. It is estimated that about a third of the school’s students are Jewish. But this has not made the Waltham, Massachusetts, school immune to the ongoing controversy around the Middle East conflict.
What led to the controversy?
As the anti-Israel protests began at Brandeis, Liebowitz announced the university would “cut ties with the campus chapter of the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP),” and a “pro-Palestinian demonstration also led to the arrests of seven people last fall,” said The New York Times. This was a “surprising development on a campus known for its vibrant history of campus dissent.” Brandeis has historically seen anti-war protests during major conflicts like the Vietnam War.
As part of the cutting of ties with the SJP, it was announced that “students wishing to express support for Palestinian rights could form new student organizations in compliance with university policies,” said The Jerusalem Post. The moving away from SJP was an effort to “provide an environment free of harassment and Jew-hatred,” said the Times. This all led to a split among faculty at the school, as the “Brandeis chapter of SJP called the decision ‘racist,’ accusing the university of silencing their voices, while university officials reiterated their commitment to maintaining a safe environment for all students,” said the Post.
This marks a shift for Brandeis, which “was one of two U.S. colleges last spring to receive an ‘A’ grade in the Anti-Defamation League’s ‘Campus Antisemitism Report Card,'” said Boston.com.
It should be noted that there were other factors involved in Liebowitz’s no-vote; “mismanagement, the elimination of 60 staff positions, the restructuring of its doctoral programs and social policy programs, crumbling infrastructure, and fund-raising deficits” all played a role, said the Times. His handling of the protests, though, appeared to be the major force.
What is the bigger picture?
Liebowitz has become the “latest example of university presidents forced from office in part because of their handling of campus strife over the war,” said Forbes. This has happened at Harvard University, Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania. Liebowitz’s decision to resign is “consistent with a trend revealed in other instances of no-confidence votes against college presidents.”
There has been a “new dynamic in campus Israel activism in the United States,” said The Times of Israel, and the incidents at Brandeis may be indicative of this. There are continued controversies on both sides of the issue, but “unlike in Europe, no university in the United States has yet opted to divest from Israel.” Notably, Wesleyan University, the University of Minnesota, the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia have all resisted calls to divest from Israel.