The Israel-Hamas war is causing tension on college campuses. Protests in support of both Palestinians and Israelis have been frequent at universities across the country, leading to conflicts between student groups and other communities. In some cases, the fallout from these protests has led to the resignations of prominent university leaders, like former Harvard University President Claudine Gay and Liz Magill from the University of Pennsylvania.
As the University of Cincinnati begins its spring semester, the school is taking action to reduce antisemitic and Islamophobic rhetoric on campus.
In a letter sent to faculty and staff, President Neville Pinto announced he would create an "Academic Task Force on Building Community for Democracy."
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"The ugliness we see far too often in our society as a reaction to difference hurts us all," he wrote. "I'm concerned that we may not be fully providing the knowledge and skills that enable our students — our future graduates and leaders — to wrestle effectively with such issues."
Pinto says the taskforce will be comprised of academic experts from the university and will study the rise of antisemitism and Islamophobia within the community. The group will then come up with solutions that intend to make UC's campus a more inclusive space.
Since the October start of the war between Israel and Hamas, multiple student protests related to the conflict have been held on campus, but dialogue from some caused President Pinto to release a statement calling for the community to denounce hate, racism, and prejudice.
While Pinto stated the university believes in freedom of speech, he encouraged the community to show compassion and avoid degrading others.
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As UC looks ahead to 2024, Pinto says the university must figure out how to help students deal with division and conflict.
"In environments both demographically and intellectually diverse, colleges and universities address division in a way that shunts aside anger, hate, and violence in favor of thoughtful disagreement," Pinto said.
The taskforce will be led by Executive Vice President and Provost Valerio Ferme. More details about the group and its members are expected to be released later this semester.
