College Campuses Must Provide A Safe Learning Space For Students Of All Backgrounds

by Contributor | November 5, 2023 3:37 pm

Weekly Column from Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay

ALBANY, NY – New York’s college campuses are no place for antisemitism, hate speech or violence of any kind, and any university administration that fails to ensure as much has no business running a school in our state. Incidents at Cornell University, where a student was arrested for promoting gruesome violence against the Jewish Community, and in our City University of New York (CUNY) schools have led to serious concerns about our state’s learning environments.
Earlier this week[1], Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered a probe for incidents of antisemitism at CUNY schools. While I support this measure, there is more we must do to ensure the safety of the students, faculty, and educators living and commuting to our college campuses. For that reason, the Assembly Minority Conference has sponsored new legislation to protect and prevent students from facing unsafe learning conditions on campuses in the state. Additionally, I have called for answers from university officials about these incidents in an open letter that can be found here.[2]

• The establishment and implementation of a training program for all current and new employees, and a requirement all college and university administrators, faculty, staff and students attend training seminars;
• Mandatory consultation with an expert in the areas of antisemitism awareness, prevention and Jewish history and culture to conduct the training;
• The dissemination of information pertaining to such policies and procedures to the State Education Department on an annual basis;
• The publication of such information regarding who to contact with questions regarding the policy and how to report violations of this policy; and
• State aid penalties for failing to comply with the requirements of the legislation.

Violence and hatred must not be allowed to fester in our colleges. Before this problem gets worse, I am calling for immediate action both on campus and in the Legislature. Anything less from university and government officials represents a willful failure to protect our students and communities.

If you have any questions or comments on this or any other state issue, or if you would like to be added to my mailing list or receive my newsletter, please contact my office. My office can be reached by mail at 19 Canalview Mall, Fulton, NY 13069 and by email at [email protected][3]. You may also find me, Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay, on Facebook or on Twitter at @WillABarclay.

Source URL: https://oswegocountytoday.com/politics/barclay-opinion/college-campuses-must-provide-a-safe-learning-space-for-students-of-all-backgrounds/