CUNY boss a no-show as Jewish students decry anti-Semitism
Students and professors at New York City’s public colleges testified Thursday that they have been targeted over their Jewish faith, telling lawmakers that the campuses of CUNY and other schools are a hotbed of anti-Semitism.
CUNY Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez, however, was a no-show for the long-awaited hearing held by the City Council Committee on Higher Education — and his refusal to testify didn’t go unnoticed.
“Last night, in a very cowardly fashion, the chancellor said he won’t appear. Instead he sent a lawyer to represent him. What a sham, what an insult to the Jewish community of New York,” said Brooklyn Councilwoman Inna Vernikov.
“When it comes to Jews, do Jewish lives matter?!” fumed Vernikov, a Ukranian-born Jew, who is the ranking Republican on the Council’s Education Committee.
The chancellor missed out on hearing horror stories from students and professors at city universities.
Former CUNY School of Law student Rafaella Gunz said she transferred to Yeshiva University because, “I feared for my physical and emotional well being” after she was demonized by other students over her Jewish faith and Zionist beliefs.
Joshua Greenberg, a Baruch College student, said he was assaulted for being a “Jewish, disabled student,” and complained about restrictions on prayer.
“It’s completely unacceptable what’s going on at Baruch College,” he said.
Michael Goldstein, a professor at Kingsborough Community College, said “it is horrible for Jews at CUNY”, claiming that anti-Semites defaced a photo of his dad, Leonard Goldstein, the former longtime president of Kingsborough, at the Brooklyn campus.
Students outside the CUNY system also sounded the alarm about anti-Semitism at their campuses.
Former NYU student Adela Cojab Moadeb said the downtown private college became “very unsafe for Jewish students” where pro-Palestinian supporters “equated Zionism with Nazism” and students were exposed to the burning of the Israel flag.
“I was afraid,” said Cojab Moadeb, who filed a federal civil rights complaint against NYU that resulted in a settlement, which The Post reported on in 2020.
Top reps from CUNY testified remotely, but did not have data at hand on the number of anti-Jewish incidents on its campuses, and acknowledged that it does not have a systemwide sensitivity training about anti-Semitism.
Bronx Councilman Eric Dinowitz, chairman of the higher education committee and head of the Council’s Jewish Caucus, said he was “deeply disappointed” that Matos Rodriguez, the CUNY chancellor, opted not to attend.
His absence and that other CUNY officials testifying remotely “doesn’t fill me with hope” that the university, which oversees 26-public colleges in the city, will aggressively stamp out hatred against Jewish students and professors, Dinowitz said.
Dinowitz read off some of the slurs and hate symbols that Jewish students who testified anonymously faced on CUNY campuses including, “We need Hitler again,” calls for the murder of Jews, the presence of swastikas, “jokes about Jews in ovens” and finding a Star of David smeared in feces, among others.
Council Republican Minority Leader Joe Borelli noted that Matos Rodriguez testified before the Council on CUNY’s budget request “begging for money from City Hall” but on Thursday he was MIA “when it comes to discussing the very serious and pervasive nature of anti-Semitism on CUNY campuses.”
Gerard Felitti, an attorney with the pro-Jewish Lawfare Project who is representing a Jewish victim in a federal hate crime case, called on Matos Rodriguez to be replaced by a chancellor “who cares about the Jewish people.”
CUNY said it is usually represented at Council hearings by campus leaders and subject experts who closely oversee the topic being discussed, while chancellors typically testify at the budget hearing.
During their testimony, CUNY senior vice chancellor for institutional affairs Glenda Grace and vice chancellor for student affairs Denise Maybank rattled off programs and events at various campuses to help combat anti-Semitism.
“We understand more has to be done.” Grace said.
Maybank said “I hear you” and that more has to done to deal with “uncivil discourse” before it crosses the line into discrimination. She said it “remains our responsibility” to make students “feel safe and welcome on campus.”
The Jewish advocacy group AMHCA testified that is logged more than 150 anti-Semitic incidents on 11 CUNY campuses since 2015, when it began its tracking.
More than 60 of those incidents involve acts that directly targeted Jewish students for harm, including swastikas and other types of “genocidal” vandalism, bullying, suppression of movement and demonization.
Most of the incidents involving Jewish students being harassed on CUNY campuses have been Israel-related, and these acts have more than doubled over the last year, said AHCA Director Tammi Rossman-Benjamin.
Jewish students and professors said the growing pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel has contributed to hatred against those who support the Jewish State.
CUNY law school’s faculty council and student government have passed resolutions backing the BDS movement against Israel, which pro-Palestinian activists accuse of practicing apartheid.
Vernikov asked CUNY officials how Jewish students could feel welcomed when their own professors approved BDS resolutions “that promote discrimination against them.”
At one point, CUNY officials said they did not use the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism, which includes “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.”
CUNY, in a statement, said, “Making sure everyone feels safe and protected at our campuses is a top priority at CUNY, which is arguably the nation’s most diverse university system and attracts people of all backgrounds and nationalities.
“CUNY leadership was pleased to testify today about the University’s ongoing efforts to combat antisemitism, violence, hate, racism and intolerance of any kind on our campuses, in our country and in the world. This is important but hard, never-ending work, and we are always learning new ways to improve our efforts. CUNY is committed to fostering an environment where all faculty, staff and students can work, teach and learn free from any form of discrimination.”
