Dear President Folt, Provost Zukoski, and Chairman Caruso,
We, the undersigned faculty of USC, write to express our objection and dismay regarding an inflammatory and misleading online "Statement" that has been publicly and officially endorsed by USC’s Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies [1]. The Statement contains numerous distortions of vital factual information concerning the historical and contemporary reality in Israel/Palestine. Although, as a group, we hold wide and diverse perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and related issues, we all believe that the errors and polemic tone of this Statement are cruelly alienating to many students, staff, and faculty, who are members of the USC community. It is also particularly troubling that the Statement was endorsed by a USC department on behalf of all its constituents.
Nearly a year ago several of us signed an Open Letter protesting the personal attacks against Rose Ritch, an undergraduate student who felt compelled to resign her post as a Vice-President of USC's Undergraduate Student Government because of her Jewish-Zionist identity [2]. Now, we see similar hateful political attacks supported by an entire USC department. This Statement has been refuted already by many [3], but it is still supported by USC's Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies.
We do not know whether such departmental declarations of political support are legal, but they are certainly unethical [4]. They have nothing to do with freedom of speech of individuals; rather, they fall under compelled speech [5] because they appear to speak on behalf of all members of the department (e.g. faculty, staff, and students), many of whom are untenured or supervised by more senior members and thus not in a position to openly disagree. Most concerning, this signing implies endorsement by USC itself. Thus, we call on USC leadership to publicly rebuke the practice of USC departments (or units) making statements for specific political agendas that have nothing to do with the University’s educational and research missions. The Statement above contains extreme, indeed fabricated, claims that criminalize the very creation of the State of Israel and, by implication, indict all its citizens and supporters, including us. Not doing so, would make USC complicit in comments within the Statement that describe the State of Israel as "settler colonialism", "ethnonationalist violence", "ongoing ethnic cleansing", and "apartheid". If USC’s implicit support stands, many Jewish students and others who believe in Israel’s right to exist will be reluctant to attend our university.
Moreover, taking a one-sided position on such a complex issue as the Israeli/Palestinian conflict undermines the role of the University as an educational institution of open inquiry and thoughtful debate. Instead of creating an environment of mutual respect, diversity, and inclusion that should characterize all academic discourse, proclamations of departmental political positions create an unwelcoming, even toxic, atmosphere for students who disagree with them. Without strong and clear disavowal by university leaders, students will assume that USC stands behind this specific Statement. Inaction by the university leadership on this important matter is particularly harmful in the current context: antisemitism is undeniably on the rise around the world, in our country, and on our campus [2]. Recent days have seen many recorded violent anti-Jewish incidents [6], fueled by anti-Israeli rhetoric and the one-sided view on this complex issue exemplified by this Statement.
It is particularly troubling in this departmental endorsement, where political disagreement is entangled with ethnic and religious identity. Jewish students and anyone who supports the right of the State of Israel to exist and are enrolled in one of the endorsing department's classes might now expect, quite reasonably, that they are not welcome as peers and that their academic careers will be harmed because of their beliefs or identity.
In the wake of the Rose Ritch affair, we have been promised that a series of activities will be implemented to improve our campus climate. We were hoping to see educational activities that aim to combat zionophobia and antisemitism, as well as other forms of hate and discrimination, to reaffirm our commitment to tolerance and inclusion, and to enable discussion of controversial issues in a respectful environment. We are still waiting for concrete actions from the administration.
Consequently, we ask you to: (1) voice an official USC position on the content of the specific Statement referenced above, assure our community that it does not reflect an endorsement by USC, and require the department to rescind its support of the Statement; (2) take immediate concrete steps to prevent identity-based discrimination and harassment before students arrive on campus; and (3) clarify policies surrounding political endorsements and pronouncements made by departments.
Respectfully,
ROBERT ADLER, MD, MS.Ed., Chief Medical Officer, CHLA Health System, Senior Advisor to the Chair of Pediatrics
LISA AZIZ-ZADEH, Associate Professor of Psychology and Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy
ITZHAK BARS, Professor of Physics and Astronomy
EYAL BEN-ISAAC, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine and CHLA
YEHUDA BEN-ZION, Professor of Earth Sciences, Director of Southern California Earthquake Center
JACK M. BERGER, MS, MD, Ph.D, Professor Emeritus of Clinical Anesthesiology
LISA M. BITEL, Dean's Professor of Religion and Professor of History
RICHARD L. BRUTCHEY, Professor of Chemistry
URI ELKAYAM, MD, Professor of Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynecology, Director of Maternal Cardiology
SUSAN R. ESTRICH, Robert Kingsley Professor of Law and Political Science
DION DICKMAN, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences
ROSA DI FELICE, Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Quantitative and Computational Biology
HENRYK FLASHNER, Professor, Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
ERIC M. FRIEDLANDER, Dean's Professor and Chair of Mathematics
SUSAN FRIEDLANDER, Professor of Mathematics and Director of the Center for Applied Mathematical Sciences
LEANA GOLUBCHIK, Stephen and Etta Varra Professor of Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering
MYRON F. GOODMAN, Professor of Biological Sciences and Chemistry
MIKE GRUNTMAN, Professor of Astronautics
LARRY HARRIS, Fred V. Keenan Chair in Finance, Marshall School of Business
JEFFREY B. HIRSCH, Adjunct Professor, Annenberg School for Communications & Journalism
JUDITH A. HIRSCH, Gabilan Distinguished Professor in Science and Engineering and Professor of Biological Sciences
ELLIS HOROWITZ, Professor of Computer Science & Electrical Engineering
GABRIEL KAHN, Professor of Professional Practice
VITALY V. KRESIN, Professor of Physics and Astronomy
ANNA I. KRYLOV, Professor of Chemistry, Member, International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science, Foreign Member, Academia Europaea
CLIVE LENNOX, USC Accounting Associates Professor of Accounting, Marshall School of Business, Leventhal School of Accounting
PAT LEVITT, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, Vice President and Director, The Saban Research Institute, Simms/Mann Chair in Developmental Neurogenetics, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, WM Keck Provost Professor of Neurogenetic, Keck School of Medicine
EMILY R. LIMAN, Professor of Neurobiology
RICHARD LUBMAN, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine
GERARD MEDIONI, Professor Emeritus of Computer Science
JERRY MENDEL, Emeritus Professor of Electrical Engineering
M. SUSAN MONTGOMERY, Gabilan Distinguished Professor in Science and Engineering and Professor of Mathematics
DAPHNA OYSERMAN, Dean’s Professor of Psychology
RICHARD S. PANUSH, MD, Master, American College of Physicians, Master, American College of Rheumatology, Professor of Medicine
DANIEL POLLACK, Thornton School of Music
STEFAN POLLACK, Adjunct Professor, Annenberg School of Communications
G. K. SURYA PRAKASH, Professor and George and Judith Olah Nobel Laureate Chair in Hydrocarbon Chemistry
HANNA REISLER, Lloyd Armstrong Jr. Chair in Science and Engineering and Professor of Chemistry, Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
MICHAEL RENOV, The Haskell Wexler Endowed Chair in Documentary, Professor of Cinema & Media Studies, Vice Dean, Academic Affairs, School of Cinematic Arts
STEVEN RICHEIMER, MD, Chief, Division of Pain Medicine, Professor of Anesthesiology & Psychiatry
REMO ROHS, Professor and Department Chair, Quantitative and Computational Biology
DAN SCHNUR, Adjunct Professor, Annenberg School of Communications
NORBERT SCHWARZ, Provost Professor, Department of Psychology & Marshall School of Business, Co-director, USC Dornsife Mind & Society Center
HAROLD SLAVKIN, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry
DOUGLAS C. SOLOW, DDS, MBA, G. Donald Montgomery Professor of Dentistry, Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs, Director, Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry Faculty Practice
WILLIAM STOHL, MD, PhD, Master, American College of Rheumatology, Professor of Medicine
ANDREW VITERBI, Presidential Chair Professor of Electrical Engineering, Member, National Academy of Engineering, Member, National Academy of Sciences
CHERYL WAKSLAK, Associate Professor of Management and Organization & McAlister Associate Professor in Business Administration
ARIEH WARSHEL, Nobel Laureate, Dana and David Dornsife Chair in Chemistry, Member, National Academy of Sciences
MICHAEL WATERMAN, University Professor Emeritus, Member, National Academy of Sciences, Member, National Academy of Engineering
MARK WEINSTEIN, Associate Professor of Finance and Business Economics Emeritus
RUTH WEISBERG, Professor, Roski School of Art and Design
ALAN WILLNER, Steven and Kathryn Sample Chair in Engineering, Member, National Academy of Engineering
REGINA WITTENBERG MOERMAN, Accounting Circle Professor of Business Administration, Marshall School of Business, Leventhal School of Accounting
CURT WITTIG, Paul A. Miller Professor of Letters, Arts and Sciences
VLADIMIR ZELMAN, MD, PhD, Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology, Foreign Member, Russian Academy of Science