The College Fix

Faculty also upset students who barricaded Hirshman in car were portrayed in ‘negative light’

Dozens of San Diego State University faculty recently signed an open letter chastising President Elliot Hirshman for refusing to condemn a message on posters distributed in April that linked Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campus activists with Palestinian terrorists.

The May 26 letter, signed by nearly 80 faculty members, called on Hirshman to condemn the claim — pressure that comes on the heels of a campus protest of Muslim students and left-wing organizations demanding Hirshman’s resignation, contending he makes Muslim students feel unsafe.

“We are disappointed that the administration has refused to defend students from charges of ‘Jew-hatred’ and of being linked to ‘terrorists.’ This is not only offensive, it leaves the targeted students exposed to harassment, discrimination, and other bias-motivated offenses,” the faculty letter states.

“We ask you to issue a public statement denouncing allegations against the targeted students and affirm your commitment to freedom of speech without fear of intimidation,” the letter added.

An SDSU spokesman told The College Fix via email that campus leaders “have no further comment at this time” on the ongoing controversy.

MORE: SDSU president’s ouster sought for defending free speech, making Muslim students feel unsafe

The posters in question were created by The David Horowitz Freedom Center. Horowitz stands behind their content.

“The statements made in our posters are accurate. BDS is funded and orchestrated by the terrorist organization Hamas,” he said in an email to The College Fix.

He added Students for Justice in Palestine and the Muslim Student Association are groups that are “active supporters of Hamas and its attacks on Israel.”

“All this is easily documented,” he continued. “The students demanding that Hirshman condemn our posters want to stigmatize and silence us because what we are saying is true. This is a direct assault on the First Amendment and Hirshman is correct to resist it. What he should also be doing is suspending the leaders of the mob that held him hostage.”

Yet faculty say they are also upset student protesters who barricaded Hirshman in a car and refused to let him leave until he weighed in on the posters were portrayed in a negative light.

MORE: San Diego State president forced to ‘apologize’ by anti-Israel mob

“Reports of students ‘surrounding’ the university president ‘barricaded’ in a police vehicle fit rather uncomfortably with a vision of ‘One SDSU Community,'” the faculty state in their open letter. “We deplore the negative light cast on students, whereby the targeted students were presented as the unreasonable actors.”

Students on campus block police car carrying SDSU president pic.twitter.com/IOx61lGY0f

— Quinn Owen (@quinn_owen) April 28, 2016

Thus far, President Hirshman has stood by the right to free speech and resisted the full demands of activists while still bristling at controversial speech.

After meeting with some angry students in May, Hirshman stated that “in cases where racism, islamophobia, misogyny, homophobia and all forms of bigotry result, we abhor the content of such expressions, even as we recognize the protected status of these expressions. Finally, we reaffirm our commitment to supporting an environment that fosters meaningful dialogue and mutual respect.”

MORE: Horowitz responds to UNC dispute: MSA and SJP ‘creatures of the Muslim Brotherhood’

College Fix contributor Seth Ian is a YU graduate living in New York City and pursuing his master’s in education.

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