47 GROUPS TO UC: Regents Principles Against Intolerance Remedy to Increasingly Polarized Campus

Dear UC Regents,

Many of our 47 organizations have come to you in the past regarding escalating anti-Semitism at the University of California. In the current increasingly polarized climate, however, we are gravely concerned that not only Jewish students, but students of multiple diverse identities and beliefs, are feeling increasingly threatened and unsafe.

In recent months, a sharp spike in anti-Semitic activity has been reported nationally, as well as hundreds of acts of hatred and intolerance targeting other historically vulnerable groups, including African Americans, LGBTQ community members, immigrants, women, Muslims and many others. At the same time, we are also witnessing a sharp rise in hateful, intolerant acts directed at individuals holding divergent ideological and political viewpoints.

Intolerance has become a serious and growing problem at UC. On too many campuses, one group’s freedom of expression has been used to denigrate, harass, intimidate and shut down the expression of another group. Debate is veering into hate, and the campus climate is at risk of becoming toxic for a variety of students targeted for actions of intolerance.

We believe the landmark Regents Statement of Principles Against Intolerance, which you adopted last March in the wake of spiking anti-Jewish hostility, couldn’t be more relevant, timely and important not only for Jewish students, but for all UC students. As you rightly point out in the statement:

“Acts of hatred and other intolerant conduct, as well as acts of discrimination that demean our differences, are antithetical to the values of the University and serve to undermine its purpose…Each member of the University community is entitled to speak, to be heard, and to be engaged based on the merits of their views, and unburdened by historical biases, stereotypes and prejudices.”

We applaud UC Irvine Chancellor Gillman for recognizing the value of the Regents’ statement and being the first chancellor to commit his campus to a full implementation of it. We ask that you urge the remaining UC Chancellors to follow Chancellor Gillman’s lead and encourage them to take the following steps on their campuses: