Prof says CUNY is trying to change policy in 'retaliation' after he filed an anti-Semitism complaint

A professor in the City University of New York system alleged that the institution is trying to change a bylaw in retaliation to him filing an anti-Semitism complaint.

Kingsborough Community College Professor Jeffrey Lax posted on X on March 13 that after he filed an internal discrimination complaint based on anti-Semitism at the college, CUNY placed him under investigation.

I have some news.

As many of you know, shortly after I filed an internal discrimination complaint based on antizionist antisemitism on my campus, CUNY immediately placed me under investigation for doing so. Then, they tortured me for 8 months, refusing to tell me --despite…

— CUNY PROF (@CUNY_Prof) March 13, 2024

Lax told Campus Reform that he then “very publicly resigned” from the Kingsborough Community College Personnel and Budget Committee, explaining “I did not wish to serve under the president of my campus.”

Following his resignation, according to Lax, CUNY is now in the process of changing its bylaws to require department chairs to serve on the Personnel and Budget Committee.

[RELATED: UPDATE: Prof accuses CUNY of retaliation due to his complaints against anti-Semitism]

A copy of the proposed bylaw shared with Campus Reform states that “There shall be in each college a committee on faculty personnel and budget or equivalent committee.”

”To my knowledge, I was the first and only person to ever resign from my campus’s esteemed ‘P  & B’ committee, but I was very grateful for a principled colleague who thereafter resigned in solidarity with me,” Lax wrote. 

“The rule forces participation on a committee that has been voluntary for department chairs for 60 years,” he wrote. 

[RELATED: MIT students sue school over failure to protect fellow Jews on campus]

The professor said that the move is “outrageous, petty, and clearly directed at me in retaliation for the ‘crime’ of speaking out about antisemites leading our campuses and about widespread antisemitism on our campuses.”

Campus Reform reached out to CUNY for comment.