During an interview on Wednesday that was aired on CNN’s “The Lead,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) stated that “several” university leaders have lost control of their campuses and are allowing gatherings that violate school policy and “we have to query whether or not we would tolerate this if this were people dressed up in KKK outfits or KKK regalia making comments about people who are African American in our communities.”
Shapiro said, “I think we need to restore some order on campuses at Columbia and across this country. Certainly, students and others have a right to peacefully protest in adherence with university policy and the laws of the city and the states they’re in. I think what’s important is that we can’t allow peaceful protest about a disagreement on policy happening in the Middle East to be an excuse for antisemitism or Islamophobia on these campuses. We can’t allow it to be an excuse that puts certain students at risk to be able to go to classes safely or to be able to worship safely. And universities have a responsibility to ensure the safety and well-being of their students and to make sure that the rules of the university are being followed. What I see from afar at some universities, including Columbia, is a situation that is completely out of control, and it’s incumbent upon the university leadership to get it under control, quickly, for the benefit of the students, and the people in the region.”
He added, “I think it’s clear when you’re engaging in antisemitic rhetoric, Islamophobic rhetoric, there should be no place for that, but even before you get to what’s on the sign or what is coming out in a speech, the act of gathering in the way that some of these students have at some of these universities violates university policy and may violate the rules of that particular city or that particular state. That can’t be allowed in the name of free speech. And I think several of these university leaders across the country are just simply losing control of the situation. They have a responsibility to keep students safe. Students shouldn’t be blocked from going to campus just because they’re Jewish or learning in a classroom as opposed to being forced online because they’re Jewish, it is simply unacceptable. And we have to query whether or not we would tolerate this if this were people dressed up in KKK outfits or KKK regalia making comments about people who are African American in our communities. Certainly not condoning that, Jake, by any stretch, but I think we have to be careful about setting any kind of double standard here on our campuses. We’ve got to call it out for what it is, and these university leaders have to make sure there is order on their campuses.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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