By SHANNON O. WELLS
A University-level working group — a collaboration that includes Pitt’s chancellor, provost and University Senate president — will study the state of antisemitism on campus and in the Pittsburgh area.
Senate Council President Robin Kear announced the group during an all-virtual Faculty Assembly meeting on Dec. 4, one month after a Faculty Assembly discussion of a proposed ad hoc Senate committee to examine antisemitism was delayed.
“There was a motion in that meeting to delay that conversation so that Senate committees could have discussions, of which seven committees did so before Thanksgiving break,” Kear said, referring to the Nov. 6 Faculty Assembly meeting. “Our proposal kicked off many, many conversations in many avenues, in many parts of the University, both inside and outside of the Senate.”
While those discussions yielded solid support for the ad hoc resolution, Kear said she believes the decision to withdraw that resolution in favor of a “different, broader direction” is “beneficial” to the University community.
The creation of the committee was prompted by attacks against Jewish Pitt students this semester and “other troubling instances of antisemitism in different pockets of the University that have been brought to our attention,” Kear said at last month’s Faculty Assembly meeting.
Authorized by Chancellor Joan Gabel and Provost Joe McCarthy, in collaboration with Kear and the Senate, the University-level working group on antisemitism will engage proactively with Pitt and the broader Pittsburgh community to analyze and address antisemitism and its potential to create distress and foment violence.
"The University of Pittsburgh unequivocally condemns antisemitism and is committed to real action to ensure our community is safe,” the University said in a statement. “In addition to ongoing efforts on campus around a deepened understanding of antisemitism, we are profoundly concerned that Pitt students recently endured antisemitic experiences from actors unaffiliated with the university.
“The Working Group on Antisemitism will, therefore, engage proactively within the University and also the broader Pittsburgh community to analyze and help address antisemitism, demonstrating the University’s steadfast commitment to combating antisemitism broadly and fostering an environment where all community members feel safe, valued and respected.”
Faculty Assembly member Jennifer Murtazashvili, a professor in Pitt’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs who was set to co-chair the ad hoc committee, will serve as one of the working group’s co-chairs. Other leaders and members of the group have yet to be named.
Establishing the group will demonstrate “our University’s steadfast commitment to combating antisemitism and fostering an inclusive environment where all community members feel valued and respected,” Kear said. “I believe that this will bring attention to these issues at the highest level of the University.”
The working group is charged with assessing and analyzing the state of antisemitism at Pitt “within the national context,” with particular attention to Western Pennsylvania and the city of Pittsburgh, and will examine the University’s role in addressing related challenges.
“Most importantly, the working group will assess the state of antisemitism on the University of Pittsburgh campus,” she said.
The group’s charge includes examining University procedures, programs and support systems related to combating antisemitism and “exploring options for improving their development, implementation or enforcement.”
It will consider the influence of off-campus actors and events on the experiences of universities, students, faculty and staff, and identify opportunities for Pitt to partner with community organizations and initiatives to “foster a more inclusive and safer environment for all.”
Kear emphasized that a working group is “not empowered to set limits on free expression on the campus or to limit protected speech further.” It also is not authorized to impose restrictions on teaching, scholarship programming or other activities that fall under the protections inherent in the University’s definition of academic freedom.
Student involvement
The original proposal for an ad hoc committee on antisemitism created tension shortly after the University Senate executive committee proposed it at the Nov. 6 Faculty Assembly meeting, where several students were prepared to speak. Discussion on the proposal was cut short after an Assembly member made a motion that Senate committees should discuss the proposal before Faculty Assembly acts on it.
A student in the room expressed his displeasure with the delay. A few days later, at the Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination Advocacy (EIADAC) meeting on Nov. 8, Pitt senior Yoni Preuss, who said he was with Jewish students who were attacked near the Cathedral of Learning in August, said tabling the ad hoc committee motion, “stressed me out much more than me sharing my personal experiences just now.”
On Dec. 4, Kear responded to a question about student involvement, making it clear that the working group will interact with students, who will be made aware of the group’s formation and goals.
“We will be communicating this to the students,” she said. “I wanted to have the chance to let everyone here know in one place at the same time what the new direction was.”
Noting that “every detail is not yet finalized, and there will be more information from senior administration in the coming weeks,” Kear thanked everyone for their contributions to the antisemitism discussion during the fall semester.
“I think this is a really beneficial way to move forward at the highest levels of the University to address these issues, but I do want to thank everyone for their really thoughtful — and I know at times difficult — discussions to have.”
Other Faculty Assembly news
Senate Plenary: Kear announced that the annual Senate Plenary will be held right after spring break on March 11, from noon to 2 p.m. in the William Pitt Union lower lounge.
In conjunction with the Year of Discourse and Dialogue, the topic will be “Academic Freedom in the Classroom, Complex Topics, Institutional Support and Thoughtful Strategies.”
Kear, who said she’s working on lining up guest speakers, read the topic description: “Faculty have the opportunity and responsibility to provide multiple perspectives on complex issues in the classroom so that students can engage in critical thinking and civil discourse, and they have the academic freedom and institutional support to do so.
“With faculty currently expressing private fears of the risks right now, we will provide an examination and discussion of this fundamental tenet of the university in today’s cultural and political environment,” the statement read.
Policy update: Kear shared an update on the decommissioning of University Policy AC 07, Assessment of English Language Proficiency for Admission, which is available for public comment until Dec. 16. The policy is set to be replaced with a unit-level policy through the Office of the Provost.
“The reasoning is that this policy is outdated and too prescriptive,” Kear said. “It refers to offices that no longer exist. The provisions are too specific, which the statement claims prevents the Office of the Provost from engaging with best practices in the assessment of English language proficiency.”
Kear said Pitt’s English Language Institute leaders have been in contact with the provost’s office and are expected to comment, as well as Educational Policies committee representatives.
Shannon O. Wells is a writer for the University Times. Reach him at shannonw@pitt.edu.
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