via E-International Relations
At the March 26 Claremont McKenna Executive Board meeting, the newly sworn-in board chose a chairperson for the Special Committee on Antisemitism. The group is dedicated to researching and writing a report about antisemitism on campus. The selected candidate did not have to be a student; it could have been anyone.
Before choosing a candidate, the board took a five-minute recess. During this time, some board members expressed that they did not want a Jewish student to take on the role. They said they wanted to appoint a chair who could remain neutral on the matter in the wake of the contentious push to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism. The IHRA considers denying Israel's right to exist to be antisemitic.
When the officers came back to the floor after the recess, there was only one nomination: the CMC first year class president. No objections were raised. The motion passed unanimously with one abstention. The class president is not Jewish. He expressed that he believes he can be an impartial judge of the campus climate regarding antisemitism.
At the same meeting, the board approved a budget request from Students for Justice in Palestine, a portion of the funds will come out of the board's D&I Chair's discretionary fund. The granted $620 will go toward Palestinian Freedom Weeks, which will kick off Monday with a speech from historian and BDS advocate Vijay Prashad. Claremont Prison Abolition and Stop LAPD Spying, an organization that aims to "abolish the police state," will cap off the first Palestinian Freedom Week on Sunday.