Statement Regarding Volleyball Game on February 23, 2020
Dear Brooklyn College Community,
Throughout my tenure as president, I have strongly denounced and will continue to denounce anti-Semitism and other forms of hatred.
For this reason, I think it is important for me to correct the record about what happened at the February 23, 2020, men's volleyball game with Yeshiva University. There, two Brooklyn College players knelt during the national anthem of Israel. Some outlets reported that the incident happened at a basketball game instead of a volleyball game. Contrary to some allegations, the players did not refuse to shake hands or engage in other unsportsmanlike behavior. These facts have been corroborated by the Yeshiva University Athletics Department and the Brooklyn College men's volleyball team coach.
The students' kneeling itself is protected speech under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The college, as a public institution, is bound by the First Amendment, which prohibits the suppression of speech based solely on its content or viewpoint.
Brooklyn College is one of the most richly diverse academic communities in the world, where students of many races, nationalities, and religious faiths study and learn in peace. Yarmulkes and hijabs are as common as band t-shirts and leather jackets. Our nearly 18,000 students come from 150 countries and speak more than 100 languages.
Brooklyn College has taken an active stance to promote understanding across our many differences. Four years ago, we developed the We Stand Against Hate initiative, which includes concerts, lectures, panel discussions, and art installations. The initiative aims to give students knowledge and insight on challenging topics, making them better prepared to engage across difference with reason and compassion. Many We Stand Against Hate events focus on Jewish history and identity. Let me offer just three examples:
- As part of our We Stand Against Hate series last spring, we invited Trinity College Professor and award-winning author Samuel Kassow to campus to discuss his book Who Will Write Our History? The book describes the secret archive of the Warsaw Ghetto buried in several tin boxes and metal milk canisters, which preserved the memory of Jewish life under Nazi persecution in Poland during World War II.
- Last fall, we hosted a lecture by Lawrence Burian, son Holocaust survivor Andrew Burian, who spoke about his father's autobiography, A Boy from Bustina: A Son. A Survivor. A Witness. At the same time, we hosted a beautiful, large-scale photography exhibit of Muslim-Albanian families who rescued Jews during the Holocaust and were recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.
- This spring, Brooklyn College professors David Brodsky (chair, Judaic Studies), Bilal Ibrahim (History), and Lauren Mancia (History) will host a panel discussion about the major monotheistic religions in dialog with one another over time. There are many more examples, but I will stop there.
As an institution of higher education, Brooklyn College is deeply committed to enhancing knowledge, respecting difference, and facilitating robust discourse. We cherish open dialog and engagement with ideas that test and even contradict our own. We understand that speech can harm, but we believe that the vast majority of harmful speech is best countered by more speech, knowledge, and engagement. We trust that reason will persuade, even with regard to the most challenging conflicts of our time.
I hope you understand how important these issues are to us, and how we work to foster an inclusive environment that promotes dialog across our differences with greater knowledge and compassion.
