Two Jewish professors at the City University of New York who have sounded the alarm about anti-Semitism on campus say their employer has launched a retaliatory investigation against them.
Lax and Goldstein told the Free Beacon that Shi should not be overseeing the search, whose hire will handle complaints of anti-Semitism, given her opposition to Zionists and the Jewish state.
Shi signed a statement following Hamas's May 2021 attacks on Israel urging CUNY to adopt demands made by the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. While she is the only pro-BDS member of the search committee, none of the members is Jewish, the Jewish News Syndicate reported.
Lax said CUNY's decision to pursue Shi's investigation was "blatantly retaliatory." Goldstein called it "black-letter retaliation."
A Kingsborough Community College spokeswoman told the Free Beacon the college has "zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind, and allegations of this kind are taken very seriously," but would not comment on the investigation. Shi did not respond to a request for comment.
Lax resigned from his position on CUNY's Personnel and Budget Committee when he filed his August complaint. He also resigned from his teachers' union in 2021 after it passed a resolution condemning the state of Israel.
Another complaint from 2018, Goldstein said, was handled by a university official who "didn't even know what the word anti-Semitism meant."
Lax told Newsmax on Monday the investigation initiated by Shi will conclude the day before the spring semester, which raises questions about his future at CUNY.
"Are they trying to terminate me? I don't know," Lax said. "Does it worry me? Yes."
