June 24, 2024
Dear members of the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on
Jewish Student Life and Campus Climate,
At our recent meeting, I promised to provide this committee
with clarifications and assurances regarding the understanding reached with the
coalition that organized the recent encampment on Sproul Plaza. I am also
providing written commitments that capture the promises I made on behalf of the
campus in support of the needs and interests of our Jewish community. Please
feel free to share this communication with members of the community, as you see
fit.
Before proceeding, I want to reiterate my appreciation for
your forthright communication at what was my final meeting with this essential
committee. It is with a great deal of sorrow and empathy that I recognize the
challenges faced by so many members of the Jewish community, on campus and
beyond, since the horrific October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel. The ensuing
rise in reports of antisemitic expression, including on our own campus, is
deeply disturbing. This situation only adds to my appreciation for Prof.
Hassner’s and Prof. Katz’s advocacy in support of new campus programs to
provide antisemitism education to larger numbers of students, staff, and
faculty. These will constitute major expansions of the work of Berkeley’s
pioneering Antisemitism Education Initiative, established in 2019.
Clarifications regarding the encampment understandings
What follows is a written reiteration of what I stated
regarding the understanding the campus reached with the encampment coalition.
First, the commitments that have been made by the campus to facilitate
conversations with those who control Foundation and endowment investments do
not, in any way, open the door to, or have anything to do with, divestment from
entities based on the fact that they do business with or in Israel, or are
situated in Israel. I have repeatedly expressed my opposition to any UC-wide,
campus, or Foundation policy that would boycott, divest from, or impose
sanctions upon Israel.
Second, I want to also confirm that the campus is not
undertaking a program-level review of academic programs, academic
relationships, or research relationships between the Berkeley campus and
educational or research institutions in Israel. The understanding that the
campus reached with the coalition reiterates and confirms existing campus
policy concerning protected-class discrimination. That policy enables any
person who alleges a campus-operated program or activity has engaged in
discrimination based on a protected category to make a complaint to OPHD. If a
formal investigation then finds discrimination to have occurred or to be
occurring, one of the potential remedies for the discrimination can include
ending the relationship with the non-campus organization or institution that
operates the program in question.
Moreover, I also committed the campus to include
representatives identified by the coalition in the group of stakeholders that
will be consulted regarding implementation of campus-specific procedures for
the new system-wide anti-discrimination policy. I repeat here my commitment to
also include representatives that your committee designates as stakeholders in
that process. All such consultations are of course ultimately only advisory,
and decisions will be made, like in other matters of policy, by campus
leadership. I also want to make clear that there is an important distinction
between the development of procedures for anti-discrimination policy, and the
actual process for reviewing subsequent complaints. In the latter instance, it
is only the professionals of OPHD who will have the power to assess and rule
upon the merits of claims of alleged discrimination.
Supporting our Jewish community
In my recent letter to the Academic Senate, I stated that,
“disagreements should be based upon an exchange of ideas and not be framed in
language that attacks people based upon their identity – antisemitic,
anti-Israeli, anti-Palestinian, anti-Zionist, Islamophobic or other
identity-based expression.” That sentence was born, in part, of my
understanding and profound regret that some of the individuals participating in
the encampment and other on-campus protests or demonstrations, have been the
source of antisemitic expression, as well as isolated, but still unacceptable
incidents of physical violence. Some of these incidents have led to reports of
bias and discrimination that have been submitted to OPHD. I want to assure you
that the campus administration always takes reports of bias and discrimination
very seriously, consistent with our commitment to do all that we can so that
every member of our community, no matter their origins or their identity, can
feel welcome and respected, and have a true sense of belonging.
I understand and acknowledge that many members of our Jewish
community felt deeply disturbed, even unsafe, due to the presence and
persistence of expression that was reasonably perceived to be antisemitic. As I
wrote in a campus message sent last November, “I have been deeply connected to
this campus for more than 50 years and rarely, if ever, have I been more
concerned about our ability to abide by and sustain our foundational Principles
of Community. These principles enable us to balance the inherent tensions
between free speech and diversity of perspectives on the one hand and, on the
other, our ability to have a strong community that provides a true sense of
belonging and safety to its members, regardless of their identities or
beliefs.”
With that in mind, we will, for the first time, invest
significant university funding in support of antisemitism education. We have
pledged to maintain these budgetary allocations for the Antisemitism Education
Initiative for at least five years. We also hope and expect that the director
of the Antisemitism Education Initiative will play a key role in the
development of the content for the antisemitism education we are promising to
provide on a much wider scale than previously - to all incoming students, incoming
Residential Assistants, and incoming leaders of Registered Student
Organizations.
We are also, as promised, continuing the review of our
“Time, Place, and Manner” rules, as we remain unsure that our current approach,
particularly in and around Sather Gate, is serving the campus community well.
Israel and Jewish Studies
In addition to strengthening the commitment to antisemitism
education on our campus, I want to assure you of our continuing and unwavering
support for Jewish and Israel Studies. In the near future, our Center for
Jewish Studies (CJS) will be designated as one of a handful of New Initiative
Centers (NICs) at Berkeley. As a NIC, the CJS will, for the first time, have
the ability to house endowed chairs and faculty members, and to initiate
faculty searches, considerably strengthening the CJS’s stature, influence, and
autonomy.
Equally important is the outstanding work of the Helen
Diller Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies (HDI). It is the largest
such program in the country, soon to be strengthened by a new Israel Studies
Minor that will begin this fall. We also continue to value our exchanges and
relationships with academic institutions in Israel, as well as Berkeley's study
abroad programming in Israel, including the HDI’s flagship exchange program,
the Summer Berkeley Global Internship Program in Haifa.
I also want to affirm that we continue to have tremendous
respect and appreciation for the Magnes Institute for Jewish Art & Life,
the largest Judaica collection on any university campus anywhere in the world.
Together, the CJS, the Helen Diller Institute, and the Magnes offer an
exceptionally wide and rich tapestry of educational opportunities connected to
Jewish and Israeli history, society, and culture, of which our campus should be
very proud.
I have shared this letter with Chancellor-designate Lyons
prior to sending it to you, and I want to assure you that we are aligned when
it comes to these specific commitments and clarifications, as well as, on a
more general level, the extent to which we are committed to addressing the
needs and interests of Berkeley’s Jewish community.
Throughout my tenure in office this committee has been a
consistent source of thoughtful, principled, and constructive guidance, ideas,
and criticism. I am, and will always be, grateful for your honesty and
forthright expression in support of the community you represent, and for your
dedication to our university and its most important values. I am cognizant of,
and deeply concerned about the toll events of the last eight months—on campus
and off—have taken on many members of the Jewish community. You can be
confident that there is no complacency among campus leadership on these issues.
Instead, there is a great desire to learn from the missteps of the past and a
commitment to constant improvement in support of our Principles of Community.
I fervently wish for there to be peace, safety, and respect
for all members of our country’s and campus’s Jewish communities, and for the
Israeli and Palestinian peoples.
Sincerely,
Carol T. Christ
Chancellor
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