WATCH: Are DEI initiatives fueling anti-Semitism in higher ed?
Brandeis Center Founder Kenneth Marcus joins Campus Reform to discuss an investigation of alleged anti-Semitism at Stanford University.
Marcus adds historical context to these incidents, explaining how anti-Semitism is dealt with differently depending on whether the hatred comes from the left or right.
The Louis B. Brandeis Center Founder Kenneth Marcus joined Campus Reform to discuss anti-Semitism in higher education in wake of recent revelations that Stanford University has fostered an environment of anti-Jewish rhetoric among faculty.
Marcus served as the Assistant U.S. Secretary of Education for Civil Rights in the Trump administration.
“What’s interesting about Stanford and what I think makes it reflective of a much broader trend that we’re seeing across higher education, and also in other areas, is that the problem here isn’t just on the campus,” Marcus told Campus Reform.
[RELATED: UPDATED: National leaders call for end to DEI officers’ anti-Semitism]
“It is in this specific part of campus that is supposed to deal with hate and bias. It is in the diversity, equity, and inclusion program at Stanford,” he continued. “In other words, it’s in exactly the program that’s supposed to eliminate these problems rather than creating them.”
Marcus noted that, “We’ve seen anti-Semitism in DEI programs in other parts of the country, at a higher ed level.”
“When universities see right-wing, traditional antisemitism, swastikas,” Marcus explained, they typically deal with these issues well because “it doesn’t take a lot of courage for a university president to speak out against neo-Nazism.”
Yet, the Brandeis Center reported in 2022 that DEI leaders ignored “allegations of Zoom bombings with swastikas out of concern that it would draw attention away from anti-Black anti-racism concerns.”
“We hope that now that we have made very clear that they are continuing to discriminate against Jewish students in the year 2022. And not just students, but our cases about staff, administrators, health professionals,” Marcus stated.
Watch the full interview above for Kenneth Marcus’ full reaction and insight into this growing trend.
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