Observer
The Case Western Reserve
Friday, March 22, 2024 Volume LV, Issue 22 Est. 1969
Lucas Yang/The Observer
EDITORIAL
By suspending SJP, CWRU’s administration furthers a culture of distrust Editorial Board On Sunday, March 3, Case Western Reserve University’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) posted to their Instagram account a letter from the university administration from Feb. 26 notifying them that SJP has received an “Interim Loss of Recognition” as a student organization. The letter, sent by the Associate Dean of Students and Director of the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards George O’Connell and which The Observer obtained through email, references earlier communications from the university concerning potential student conduct and Posting Policy violations by SJP. Specifically, it states that SJP “engaged in [gluing] fl[y]ers to various surfaces around campus,” such as the Spirit Wall, “in violation of the University’s posting policy and student code of conduct”; additionally, it claims that SJP failed “to respond to requests from the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards.” This interim derecognition of SJP came as an immense surprise to the student body; not even the vice president of finance of the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) was notified of the suspension. The Instagram post has since
received over 9,000 likes and outside news organizations such as FOX 8 News and Cleveland Scene have even covered the event. The Editorial Board contacted the university with a dozen questions in a request for comment on the recent events. This is the university’s statement in full: “On March 3, 2023, CWRU Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) posted a letter to its Instagram account, dated February 26, 2024, from Associate Dean of Students and Director of the Office of Student Conduct & Community Standards to student representative of CWRU SJP in which they were informed of CWRU SJP’s Interim Loss of Recognition. This letter also included steps for CWRU SJP members to take for CWRU SJP to be considered for reinstatement of organizational recognition. Additional facts are outlined in that letter, which is attached.” The university did not comment as to the reason for requesting names of specific members involved in the alleged posting of flyers, which was one of their conditions for reinstatement. Nevertheless, some student members disagree about the organization’s involvement in the postings. As one student responded to The Observer, “I would like to make this abundantly clear. SJP as an organization did not organize the
postings of the flyers,” calling into question the university’s response. At a USG meeting on Tuesday, March 5, Peter Whiting, the interim vice president of student affairs, stressed that “[i]t was ultimately the failure to respond in the conduct process that made us take the step to the interim suspension.” However, this statement blatantly ignores the real and legitimate concerns that students feel toward the administration—and these recent actions will only further damage the already strained relationship between students and administrators. As a fellow student organization, The Observer recognizes these worries and stands in full support of SJP’s right to freely express its beliefs. It became abundantly clear throughout the meeting that students all across campus do not trust the administration. In a discussion regarding the university’s request for a list of SJP’s membership, Whiting hoped that students could trust USG Advisor and Director of Student Activities and Leadership Marc Hartmann to keep the list confidential and not share it publicly. One student said in response, “I don’t think I can put that trust in [Hartmann] and I don’t think the rest of the student body can either.” The administration has slowly been creating distrust in the cam-
pus community over the past few years. “The thing is, [collaboration] is a two way street,” one student said in the meeting. “[W]e can not have that trust in the administration if certain members don’t do their part in maintaining that trust. If SJP is expected to collaborate, then I believe it is about time the administration does something to make up for what they have done in the past.” This trust and collaboration were broken when, on Nov. 9, 2022, President Kaler sent out an email calling the passing of Resolution 31-15 by the USG “profoundly anti-Israel and anti-Semitic” and a vote for the resolution “clearly a vote against Israel and an aggression toward the Jewish members of our community.” In that one instance, Kaler implicated the entire student body in an attack on an entire nation and faith, and his words opened a chasm between students in the classroom and administrators in the boardroom. More recently, the administration intimidated the LGBT Center for its support of SJP’s walkout in protest of the university’s stance on the conflict. In the subsequent months, the administration still has not learned. Continue reading on page 12