Yesterday The Jewish Press provided extensive coverage of a contretemps over free speech, civil discourse, race and intolerance taking place at Brandeis University, which is located in suburban Boston, Massachusetts.
If you have not yet read about the issue, it involves a black Brandeis student who, in the context of what she sees as a seriously racist nation in which current law enforcement is the direct and unreformed descendent of the slave-catching, capitalist-protecting militia of pre-Civil War America, tweeted that she “had no sympathy for the police officers who were murdered today” on Dec. 20. She also sent out other, profanity-laced tweets reinforcing her position. The article lays out the chronology and the facts.
Until mid-day local time in Boston, the president of Brandeis University had not commented publicly on what has been happening within and about his campus regarding this episode. What follows is his just-released statement, the subject line of which was, “Campus Civility and student safety at Brandeis.”
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Dear Members of the Brandeis Community:
As many in our community are aware, subsequent to the murder of two NYPD officers a Brandeis student posted comments to Twitter that expressed a lack of sympathy with the slain officers. Those comments were then re-posted by another Brandeis student on a third party blog. I write to address the nature of the discourse of the past days. Then I want to share my own response to the murders, explaining why I condemn any lack of sympathy with the murdered officers. Let me begin with one key matter – safety of our students. We have no greater concern than the safety of our students at Brandeis. We have taken and will continue to take all efforts to safeguard our students.
The discussion of the past week continues a national conversation on race and law enforcement that is bound to be heated and controversial. We will defend the free expression rights of all students in this debate. Arguments, even heated arguments, are one thing; threats are another. Within our community, we must address each other in ways that do not threaten each other. Any student who feels unsafe should notify public safety immediately.
It is critically important that we be able to have discussions about complex and charged issues in a climate of mutual respect and civility. This is an ambition for the full society – it is a mission for our University. I am proud that most of the discussion on our campus over the past days has been characterized by the kind of respectful and reasoned discourse that is the essence of an institution of higher learning.
A group of Brandeis students has been urging that this discussion transition away from social media, where the lack of face-to-face interaction, the instant ability to post and the brevity of posts can enable destructive language, and transition instead into settings based on direct human connection and into more rational forms of expression. I support these students’ efforts to make this discourse shed less heat and more light. In the new year we plan a forum for respectful dialogue on these issues.
Let me now share my own views of the killings in New York a week ago last Saturday. I have deep sympathy and respect for the slain officers and for their families, colleagues and friends. Those who were present on our campus the day of the “lock down” following the Boston Marathon bombing in April, 2013 will remember the sense of security that our own campus public safety and city police officers provided. These are brave, dedicated public servants who, when necessary, willingly go into harm’s way to protect us. What New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton properly described as the assassination of the two officers was a horrific crime. I thus join those who have condemned any lack of sympathy with these officers and with those who mourn their murder.