Letter to the Editor | Antisemitism complaints must be recognized as legitimate

Letter+to+the+Editor+%7C+Antisemitism+complaints+must+be+recognized+as+legitimate

By Various Faculty

As members of the University of Illinois faculty, we are saddened to learn of a letter circulating among professors that criticizes Jewish student complaints of antisemitism at the University. We find faculty attempts to undermine student complaints about antisemitism create a chilling atmosphere on campus that seeks to silence Jewish student voices. We trust students to recognize their own experiences of antisemitism, and the systems in place to adjudicate such accusations of a hostile climate on campus. Allegations of abuse or bias at the University must always be treated seriously and investigated. Students are entitled to file grievances about their encounters and a fair legal process to consider those complaints on their merits. Thus, we decry faculty attempts to undermine this process and stand with our students and their right to be heard.

Cary Nelson, Jubilee Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences Emeritus
Richard J. Ross, David C. Baum, Professor of Law and Professor of History
Jacqueline E. Ross, Prentice H. Marshall, Professor of Law
Richard Herman, Chancellor of the University of Illinois Emeritus
Richard L. Kaplan, Guy Raymond Jones, Chair in Law
Brett Kaufman, Assistant Professor of Classics and Jewish Studies
Paul M. Weichsel, Professor of Mathematics Emeritus
Helaine Silverman, Professor of Anthropology
Paula Treichler, Professor of Communications Emeritus
Nigel Goldenfeld, Swanlund Chair and Professor of Physics
Marc Snir, Richard Feiman and Saburo Muroga Emeritus, Professor of Computer Science
Amitai Aviram, Professor of Law
Diane Gottheil, Assoc. Director, Medical Scholars Program
Paula Kaufman, Juanita J. and Robert E. Simpson, Dean of Libraries and University Librarian Emerita
Ehud Yairi, Speech and Hearing Science Emeritus
Marc Snir, Richard Feiman and Saburo Murog,  Professor of Computer Science Emeritus