Rochester student gov president condemns arrests of students for anti-Semitic posters
The president of the University of Rochester student government has expressed his opposition to the arrests of four students connected to recent campus 'Wanted' posters targeting pro-Israel faculty and staff.
"There’s no doubt that the ‘wanted’ posters are vandalism, but arresting students and charging them with felonies is a situation that should never happen again," Elijah Bader-Gregory told the Campus Times.
The president of the University of Rochester student government has expressed his opposition to the arrests of four students connected to recent campus ”Wanted” posters targeting pro-Israel faculty and staff.
On Nov. 24, the Campus Times reported on a Students’ Association Government meeting to address the university’s handling of the anti-Semitic posters and other recent bias-related occurrences. Most notably, the meeting concerned a discussion on a proposed resolution that would call out the university’s “Unprecedented And Disproportionate Response To Student Speech.”
”The University of Rochester and the Department of Public Safety, without any investigation or consult from various Jewish communities on campus, swiftly moved to labeled the posters as antisemitic, violent, and fear-mongering, and almost immediately involved law enforcement agencies ranging from the Department of Public Safety all the way to the United States Department of Justice through the FBI,” the statement says.
”While this statement nor this legislative body make no claims on the state of antisemitism other than standing firmly against it, we recognize and sympathize with the pain and fear felt by the University Jewish community at this time,” the document continues. “We simultaneously believe the punitive response by the University is broadly disproportionate and incredibly aggressive, and the move comes across as an attempt by the University of Rochester to censor any discussion of the University’s involvement in the ongoing conflict in Gaza.”
The Campus Times has reported that an amended resolution was passed by the student senate on Nov. 20.
Among the supporters of the resolution was Students’ Association Government President Elijah Bader-Gregory.
”There’s no doubt that the ‘wanted’ posters are vandalism, but arresting students and charging them with felonies is a situation that should never happen again,” Bader-Gregory told the Campus Times.
”The University purports to adhere to a ‘restorative justice’ model, but this pandering to national news and politicians has resulted in students being arrested while the University boasts about said arrests in community-wide updates,” he continued. “I’m deeply disappointed and against the University’s response and communication around the arrest of students.”
[RELATED: Student protesters condemn ‘anti-Palestinian censorship’ at University of Rochester]
The amended resolution demands that the university “acknowledge that they have failed to protect the University community” and better address the “impact of anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian racism on our campus and beyond.”
”We call upon the University of Rochester to address how their actions have utterly failed to quell fears within parts of the Jewish community and have caused further undue harm to other minority populations, especially students of color, and take the active steps necessary to repair those relationships,” the resolution continues. “We view felony charges as a disproportionate, extreme, and gross execution of justice, and we demand that the University of Rochester drop the charges against the students.”
Campus Reform has contacted Elijah Bader-Gregory for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.