Here’s how universities in the Inland Northwest are addressing antisemitism and islamophobia

Balancing support of free speech and the need to root out hate speech in the wake of the latest Israel-Hamas war, universities across the United States are wrestling with accusations of antisemitism and Islamophobia among administrators and student activists.

As student protesters at several local universities in the Inland Northwest have called for a cease-fire in the Middle East conflict, administrators have had to reconcile with these difficult questions.

Gonzaga Provost Sacha Kopp said concerns over antisemitism and Islamophobia are “vexing all of us across higher education and across the country.”

The national controversy came to a head earlier this month when several university presidents from elite schools came under fire for obfuscating their responsibility to prohibit genocidal rhetoric on their campuses. At a congressional hearing, they were asked if calling for the genocide of Jewish people constituted a violation of that university’s code of conduct.

Rather than answering simply in the affirmative, each of the university presidents gave contextual answers that “depended upon what the hypothetical speech was and who it was directed to,” said Harvard University President Claudine Gay.

“If the speech turns into conduct, it can be harassment…” said University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill. “It is a context-dependent decision.”

Magill has since resigned from her position.

On Dec. 13, the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan resolution condemning antisemitism on college campuses and specifically denounced the congressional testimony of the university presidents.

Contention on campus following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed about 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals has been most prominent locally at Gonzaga University, where some student activists took issue with their school administration’s statement immediately following the outset of the conflict.

Gonzaga President Thayne McCulloh released a statement on Oct. 9 condemning Hamas and offering support for the Jewish community.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those who have been killed and affected by these devastating attacks. Members of our Jewish community have been deeply impacted by these events, and I know that many in our Gonzaga family join with our Jewish sisters and brothers in their sadness and grief,” McCulloh’s statement reads.

Some Gonzaga students took issue that McCulloh’s statement did not specifically address violence in the conflict perpetuated by the Israeli government against Palestinian civilians and how that may affect those in other faith communities at the Jesuit College.

Organized by student group Do Better Gonzaga, hundreds marched and rallied on the campus in mid-November to call for a cease-fire in the conflict that has now killed about 18,000 Palestinians. The protesters submitted an open letter to McCulloh asking him to issue a new statement.

“We are deeply alarmed by your month-long failure to publicly acknowledge the mass killing and maiming of Palestinians,” reads the letter. While noting their activism is “not rooted in antisemitism,” the Do Better Gonzaga activists called Israel’s actions in the conflict “genocidal in scale.”

McCulloh did release a new statement on the conflict a week later on November 16.

“Military action after the terrifying and tragic initial invasion of Israel on October 7th has resulted in the deaths of thousands of Palestinians, including many civilians, and hundreds of Israeli soldiers. We are cognizant of the impact that the ongoing conflict is having in particular on our Muslim and Jewish students, faculty, staff, and families,” the second statement reads.

Speaking in mid-December, Kopp said the revised statement was not directly in response to student activism but part of an “ongoing message” to “acknowledge the range of feelings and sentiments” of the student body.

“We really have a profound commitment to the care and acceptance of all our students from all backgrounds, Muslim, Jewish, all faith traditions, all ethnic traditions here,” Kopp said.

Salsabel Khalid is a member of Gonzaga’s Muslim Student Association and the group’s former co-secretary and treasurer. Khalid and other members felt “excluded” by President McCulloh’s initial statement

“Nothing was mentioned of Christians and Muslims in Palestine, so we felt very upset and left out,” she said.

The second statement addressed this exclusion “for the most part,” but Khalid still felt as if it did not include Christian Palestinians affected by the conflict.

“It was better than nothing,” she said.

Echoing the national conversation of antisemitism on college campuses, McCulloh’s November statement said activism on this issue on other college campuses has been a “source of polarization, xenophobia, and discrimination based on religious or national identity,” and that Gonzaga would be a supportive environment for everyone.

Asked specifically if a call for the genocide of the Jewish people would constitute a violation of the university’s code of conduct, Kopp said Gonzaga does not “condone calls for violence.”

Once administrators learned of their students’ planned pro-Palestinian protest, they “coached” student activists on what would be a “responsible way of calling for peace without venturing into such dangerous territory” of possible antisemitic rhetoric.

“We try to really inform them of the impacts or the harms that could be caused in their kind of advocacy,” Kopp said, adding he was unaware whether any advocacy on campus did or did not cross that line.

Khalid, who participated in the November rally, said she was unaware of any antisemitism expressed among the protesters.

“It does not matter what religion you are, as long as you are kind and human,” she said.

Gonzaga held a forum about the situation in the weeks after the Oct. 7 attack and plans more such official events next semester.

“We allow dialogue across the campus, because really this has to be done in a relational context where we live and work together and try to learn from one another …” Kopp said. “Dialogue in the coming months is going to be a part of affirming that multiple faith communities have a home here and are respected here and are valued here.”

Eastern Washington University President Shari McMahan said EWU takes a “proactive stance against hate in all forms.”

Asked if a call for genocide against the Jewish people would violate their University’s code of conduct, McMahan answered in the affirmative.

“To be clear on this issue, any targeted call for violence or genocide against Jewish students, faculty or staff would be abhorrent and would be a violation of our conduct code. Universities, including EWU, must prohibit physical violence, as well as true threats, incitement and targeted discriminatory harassment,” she wrote.

Two “small, peaceful” Pro-Palestinian gatherings on the EWU campus have not resulted in witnessed or reported threats of violence, McMahan wrote.

Whitworth University spokesperson Trisha Coder wrote in a statement that Whitworth has “focused its time and energy on mobilizing internally to support our community – particularly our Jewish students and our Palestinian students.”

According to Coder, the University has not received any reports of antisemitism or Islamophobia since the Oct. 7 attacks.

“If we ever hear that any students are being harassed or threatened, I assure you, we take that very seriously…” she wrote. “Whitworth has a zero-tolerance policy for such bias and harassment as well as a protocol to investigate all such reports.”

Coder did note that stickers and signs “promoting a group that has been connected to antisemitism” were found on the edge of their campus in early November.

“Our staff took immediate action to remove those materials. Whitworth’s Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Joshue Orozco and President (Scott) McQuilkin immediately addressed our community and made sure they were aware of resources available to them on campus regarding this incident,” Coder wrote.

On Oct. 17, Washington State University President Kirk Schulz released a statement encouraging students affected by the conflict to use college mental health and support services.

“We categorically condemn the violence and mourn the loss of life in Israel and Gaza. Thousands have been killed in these latest clashes, with many of the dead and injured being innocent civilians. We also recognize that these events can affect us here at Washington State University. If you feel the need to talk with someone about this crisis, please reach out,” Schulz wrote.