Advocates for teachers say more must be done to protect workers from racism.
After claiming a “hate-filled” reaction, a Hebrew administrator claims she was fired from Clark University, she now has a new job at a Catholic college.
The Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies ‘ executive director, Mary Jane Rein, resigned as executive chairman of the Massachusetts school because she was criticized for her “unruly and hate-filled” reaction and Clark’s officials for their lack of support.
Then, she works at Assumption College, a Catholic establishment, where she said she feels more pleasant.
A Jewish lobbying group predicted that more schools may reduce renowned academics like Rein unless they do more to combat racism.
” Universities who treat their Israeli faculty in this manner did reduce them one by one, along with their extraordinary future scientific contributions”, Roz Rothstein, CEO and co- founder of StandWithUs, told The College Fix in an emailed statement.
According to an article Rein wrote in the Wall Street Journal, students targeted her during a presentation that she helped arrange in her personal power with the Israeli Federation of Central Massachusetts.
The event, which took position March 13 at Worcester State University, featured Israeli man Shahar Peled who was one of the first responders to the Oct. 7 Hamas harm.
But, Rein said “hecklers frequently interrupted him, stood to make assertions, rang mobile phones and pulled a fire alarms, causing the hall to be evacuated, interrupting the occasion for 20 minutes or so”.
She wrote that three Clark students also yelled at her after the incident and demanded that she resign in front of the general public. Rein claimed that” students I know well” had made her feel disheartened.
Then, “in an email the next day, a senior administrator admonished me against using my university affiliation in connection with non- Clark events, saying it was’ highly problematic.’ I had n’t mentioned my title, either in my brief remarks or in the event announcement”, Rein said.
Rein ( pictured ) claims to still be close to both her former coworkers and Clark alums. She resigned, however, because” students who try to silence me in public rather than engage with me civilly do n’t find it enjoyable to work on behalf of” them.
In the op-ed, she wrote,” I can no longer function effectively at an academic institution where it is acceptable to shout down a speaker but not to introduce a speaker with views that people do n’t agree with.”
Rein said she recently accepted a position at Assumption University’s new Center for Civic Friendship. As the founding director, she will help create a program that is “rooted in respect, honest inquiry and the free exchange of ideas in the context of civic friendship”, Rein said.
She wrote in the Wall Street Journal,” To my surprise, both as a scholar and a Jew, I feel a warmer welcome and more commonality of purpose at a Catholic institution than a secular one.”
The Fix twice sent an email to The Center for Civic Friendship asking Rein for comment, but they did not receive a response.
University says it ca n’t police students off campus
Angela Bazydlo, media relations manager at Clark, forwarded university President David Fithian’s response to Rein’s departure to The Fix , when contacted for comment.
” The University takes very seriously any allegations of misconduct, but our ability to hold students accountable for behavior off campus is, in fact, limited”, Fithian said in the statement.
Although “objectionable”, the students ‘ behavior did not violate federal, state, or local laws, he said.
Rein, according to Fithian, did not “want to engage in issues or express her opinions freely,” and Rein was only speaking as an executive director of the Strassler Center, something that the university should clarify.
Thomas Kuhne, history professor and director of the Strassler Center, told The Fix in an email the tone of political engagement amongst students is not Clark University’s responsibility.
No higher education or academic program can, according to Kuhne, fully control what students ( or faculty ) do, especially when they are not on campus, nor should they be able to do so as long as those actions remain lawful.
‘ Administrators did nothing’ when voices ‘ silenced, Jewish advocates say
However, The Fix‘s representatives from Jewish-focused organizations claimed that the universities should be investing more in Jewish faculty and staff.
Siling Jewish voices on college campuses is not new, according to Rabbi Yaakov Menken, the Coalition for Jewish Values ‘ managing director.
Menken told The Fix in an email that” they have been silenced by administrators for years” regarding the silence of Israeli and Jewish voices. The pursuit of knowledge is what academia claims to stand for by silence the voices you do n’t like.
Rothstein of StandWithUs told The Fix Rein’s departure is “devastating yet understandable”, and she was pleased to hear about Rein’s position.
” I am grateful that Dr. Rein’s journey has taken her to a group of peers who will support her identity, her continued growth, and her scholarship”, Rothstein said.
MORE: Pro-Palestinian students leave Duke’s Seinfeld commencement speech
IMAGE: Clark University/Mary Jane Rein
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