President Nan Keohane's decision not to sign a statement cautioning against the intimidation and mistreatment of Jewish students has evoked disappointment among the Jewish student community at Duke.
The statement, which was sponsored by the American Jewish Committee and ran as an advertisement this week in The New York Times, called for "college presidents to decry intimidation on campuses." In light of recent threats against Jewish students and Israeli rights supporters, the statement asked that campus debates continue to be free of taunts or intimidation.
Keohane decided not to sign the statement because it did not include other ethnic backgrounds.
"President Keohane felt uncomfortable endorsing a statement that only spoke to one aspect of [the intimidation] issue and one target group," said John Burness, senior vice president for public affairs. "[The statement] implies a concern primarily for or explicitly about Jewish students. If it was worded differently, she may have signed it."
Some Jewish students, however, do not believe the statement's wording should detract from the general issue of anti-intimidation.
"In the statement, out of the 6 paragraphs, only one talks about Jewish students," said sophomore Justin Segall, Hillel vice president. "I wished [Keohane] had signed the statement because I think in general, we should commit to a university that is free from intimidation and hatred-and I think there has been some of that here [on the East Campus Bridge]."
Evan Davis, another sophomore Jewish student, said signing the statement would be taking a step closer to an intimidation-free campus for all religious and ethnic groups.
"How can you start to stop the hatred and oppression that are going on if you don't take it one ethnic group at a time?" Davis also said that a proactive response would be a statement that endorsed all religious and ethnic groups.
Dartmouth College President Emeritus James Freedman sent the anti-Semitism statement to Keohane, as well as to many other university presidents and chancellors. Almost 300 leaders at other universities have signed the statement, including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Boston University and Brown University. North Carolina State University declined to sign.
Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta, who is Jewish and has closely worked with the Freeman Center for Jewish Life, agreed that the statement should not focus solely on intimidation and hate, but that it should also apply to other ethnic backgrounds. "I really like the sentiment in it but would personally prefer it to be a little broader," he said.
An Arab student, sophomore Sajid Anwar, believed Keohane made the right decision.
"Intolerance affects lots of minorities--Blacks, Asians, Muslims, Arabs, Latin-Americans--and is not limited to one group," he said. "If [Keohane] were to sign anything, I agree that it should be more inclusive."
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