University of Michigan provost’s home targeted in latest wave of anti-Israel vandalism
Pro-Palestine activists vandalized the home of the University of Michigan’s provost, Laurie McCauley, spray-painting anti-Israel slogans and breaking a window.
This marks the fifth instance of anti-Israel vandalism targeting University of Michigan administrators, part of a broader trend of similar incidents at other universities.
Pro-Palestine activists recently vandalized the private home of the University of Michigan’s provost, including by spraying anti-Israel messages onto the sides of the house.
Slogans that the demonstrators sprayed onto the house of University of Michigan Provost Laurie McCauley included “Free Palestine,” “Divest,” “M Kills,” and “No Honor in Genocide,” according to the Michigan Advance. The incident took place during either the evening of March 15 or the morning of March 16.
In addition to the spray-painting, a window had been smashed. “Upon arrival, officers discovered an object had been thrown through a bedroom window,” Ann Arbor Police Department (AAPD) spokesperson Chris Page told The Detroit Free Press.
The incident is currently being investigated by Ann Arbor police, according to The Detroit News.
“Ann Arbor Police notified the university of an incident that occurred the night of March 15 at the home of one of our executives,” said Kay Jarvis, a spokesperson for the University of Michigan. “AAPD is actively investigating in collaboration with the University of Michigan Police Department.”
University of Michigan Regents Vice Chair Mark Bernstein strongly condemned the incident as a “criminal act” that challenged the “fundamental values” of the school.
”We have failed as an educational institution when these criminal acts replace responsible advocacy,” Bernstein argued. “This conduct is an assault on the fundamental values of our university.”
This is far from the first time that University of Michigan administrators have come into the crosshairs of pro-Palestine student activists. For instance, last October, anti-Israel students spray-painted anti-Semitic messaging on the private homes of two school administrators.
“To mark one year of genocide against the Palestinian people, an autonomous group visited the homes of two University of Michigan leaders, President Santa Ono and Chief Investment Officer Erik Lundberg,” the pro-Palestine group behind the vandalism stated at the time.
All told, the vandalism of McCauley’s house marks the fifth time that University of Michigan leaders have been the target of anti-Israel vandalism.
Other schools have also experienced similar acts of destruction. Earlier this month, student activists damaged the home of the interim president of Columbia University, Katrina Armstrong.
The controversial anti-Israel student group Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) posted pictures of Armstrong’s house with red paint and the slogan “FREE THEM ALL” splattered across it. “The people will not stand for @Columbia’s shameless complicity in genocide!” the group posted.
Similarly, the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) group at the University of California, Los Angeles was suspended earlier this year after vandalizing the house of a school regent.
Campus Reform has contacted the University of Michigan for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
