“It is a place that has allowed for an abundance of free speech. But the administration needs to stand up and show some strength.”
by Stacy Gittleman
Ten minutes before U-M President Santa Ono was about to speak, Momblanco said one of the keffiyeh-clad young women left. When she came back, she smiled at her seated friend and signaled a thumbs-up.
When Ono took the stage, Momblanco said the screaming and shouting began.
“At that point, someone behind me yelled ‘Death to Jews,’” Momblanco recalled. “That is when some girls and parents near me began to cry and leave. My husband and I left in fear and headed downstairs to try to find my daughter. We both began to cry when we saw each other and left the auditorium. That was the first time I saw security or police, and they were all outside. There were also other protesters filming us on the front steps.”
Audience members were warned not to disrupt the Honors Convocation ceremony, yet they did anyway without consequence.
Students and parents fear that this is just a warmup for commencement ceremonies. There is chatter on Jewish parent Facebook and WhatsApp groups that stronger measures need to be taken or else they may consider not attending graduation events.
Many are hoping Ono’s administration can dial things back down by establishing new ramped-up anti-disruption policies in time for graduation.
U-M President Responds
In a campus community announcement, Ono on March 27stated that while he recognizes the importance of maintaining the campus as a bastion of free speech and expression, at the same time, the administration is surveying the community as it unveils its proposed Disruptive Activity Policy.
Ono stated: “No one has the right to infringe on the exercise of others’ speech and activities by disrupting the normal celebrations, activities and operations of the university.”
Ono continued: “Under the draft Disruptive Activity Policy, students accused of a violation would receive written notice and, after an opportunity to meet with a U-M official, may accept responsibility and an assigned sanction, or choose to participate in a hearing. Sanctions would include a formal reprimand up to and including suspension or expulsion, according to the draft policy.”
It is not clear when the policy will be finalized or enacted.
Meanwhile, the big time Detroit/Ann Arbor Jewish organizations have done next to nothing to stem the tide of area antisemitism. GA jr