Yesterday morning, the Lang Faculty Council (LFC) voted to pass a motion calling for the university’s withdrawal of disciplinary sanctions against three faculty members, as well as other faculty and students facing disciplinary proceedings for their involvement in activities related to Palestinian solidarity.
The council also voted on and passed three other motions that call for the replacement of the university’s demonstration guidelines, the development of a new disciplinary process, and an independent investigation of the university’s Title IX office.
The LFC released a poll with the four motions to the 386 names listed on LFC’s “currently-not-on-leave” list, which received responses from 81 Eugene Lang faculty members. While Motions 1 and 3 were the most favored by voting members, all four motions received a “yes” vote of 72% or higher.
Motion 1 calls for the immediate withdrawal of sanctions against faculty members Jaskiran Dhillon, Abou Farman, and Evan Litwack, as well as other New School community members facing disciplinary proceedings for participating in “Palestinian Solidarity speech and activity.”
Motion 2 calls for a replacement of The New School’s Demonstration Guidelines to align with the UN Special Rapporteur Gina Romero’s recommendations for universities whose communities participate in peaceful protest.
Motion 3 calls for the development of new disciplinary actions through “transformative justice,” which can be described as addressing the root cause of violence or harm done to lessen further harm in the future.
Motion 4 calls for an independent investigation of TNS’s Title IX office as a whole.
On March 6, Dhillon, Farman, and Litwack joined students and other staff members outside of Arnhold Hall to protest the presence of a serving Israeli Defense Force “terrorism unit” member, Lieutenant Roei, at an event organized by Hillel at The New School.
Following the protest, community members filed complaints against Dhillon, Farman, and Litwack through the Title IX office, accusing the faculty of discrimination “on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, national origin, or shared ancestry.” The faculty were also accused of disorderly conduct, harassment, non-compliance, and employee misconduct.
In a document outlining the motivations behind the motions, the LFC said that the university’s disciplinary actions disproportionately target Jewish, BIPOC, and non-white female faculty and student community members involved in Palestinian solidarity. The LFC also said that the university has ignored students and staff who have been assaulted and harassed by counter-protestors who “repeatedly attacked participants in pro-Palestine encampments on campus, launching homophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic, and antisemitic slurs against them.”
Dhillon is a scholar of colonial violence and settler colonialism, and Litwack is currently a co-supervisor of the Jewish Culture Club (JCC), which the motivation describes as “a Jewish community space offering an alternative to the university’s pro-Zionist Hillel organization.” Farman is the Faculty Director for the Mellon Initiative for Inclusive Faculty Excellence and one of the few Senior Project professors in the anthropology department.
The LFC included in their statement that this “refusal to act in response to reports” made by students and staff may leave other community members feeling like they are unable to express their solidarity with Palestinian liberation.
“We are at a pivotal crossroads. One where The New School can still choose to live up to its legacy of standing for justice, peace, and accountability in this historic moment.”
This is a developing story.