San Francisco State University Update:
Faculty Group in the College of Ethnic Studies
Defends Placards Glorifying the Murder of Jews
Action Alert: Ask College of Ethnic Studies Dean to Issue Condemnation
As you know, this week AMCHA co-founders sent a letter to SFSU President Wong expressing concerns over an event sponsored by the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Initiative (AMED), at which students were encouraged to engage in art projects which involved using one stencil bearing the image of a notorious terrorist and another that read “MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS KILLED COLONIZERS.”
The day after we sent our letter, a statement clearly linked to AMED was published on Facebook, bearing the title:
“Zionists: Hands off our San Francisco State University Students!”
“Support AMED and GUPS against a Zionist smear campaign/charges of Anti-Semitism”
The Facebook statement, which we believe was written by an AMED faculty member, is a defense of the stencils and an attack on AMCHA Initiative for raising legitimate concerns about their antisemitic nature.
[The Facebook page has been removed, but you can see its contents HERE].
AMCHA Initiative has sent a letter to Dr. Kenneth Monteiro, Dean of the College of Ethnic Studies, reminding him that President Wong issued a public statement unambiguously condemning these stencils, and asking Dean Monteiro to issue a similar statement condemning student and faculty groups affiliated with the College of Ethnic Studies who use the name and resources of the University to defend, justify, and glorify murder and those who commit it.
You can see AMCHA’s letter to Dean Monteiro of the College of Ethnic Studies HERE.Please consider writing your own letter to Dean Monteiro, reiterating AMCHA’s request for him to make a public statement condemning faculty and students who use University resources to defend, justify and glorify murder.
If you are an SFSU or CSU student, relative, alumnus, faculty, staff or donor, you may want to note your affiliation with the CSU system in your letter.
Dean Monteiro can be reached at: monteiro@sfsu.edu
Please copy or blind-copy the AMCHA Initiative on your letter at: administrator@AMCHAinitiative.org
Here are some CSU and state officials that you may also wish to copy on your letter:
SFSU President Leslie Wong – president@sfsu.edu
Chancellor Timothy P. White – twhite@calstate.edu
CSU Board of Trustees – lhernandez@calstate.edu
CSU Interim General Counsel Andrew Jones – gajones@calstate.edu
California State Senator Mark Leno (San Francisco) – senator.leno@senate.ca.gov
California State Senator Leland Y. Yee (San Francisco) – senator.yee@senate.ca.gov
California Assembly Member Philip Y. Ting (San Francisco) – assemblymember.ting@assembly.ca.gov
California Assembly Member Joan Buchanan, Chair of the Assembly Education Committee – assemblymember.Buchanan@assembly.ca.gov
Here is the full list of emails of CSU and government officials for you to copy and paste into the “Cc:” field of your letter:
president@sfsu.edu, twhite@calstate.edu, lhernandez@calstate.edu, gajones@calstate.edu, senator.leno@senate.ca.gov, senator.yee@senate.ca.gov,
assemblymember.ting@assembly.ca.gov,Assemblymember.Buchanan@assembly.ca.gov.
Thank you!