Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered the Metropolis College of New York to right away shut down a “Palestinian Studies” professorship posting at Hunter Faculty that critics argued promotes hateful instruction that demonizes Israel.
The governor additionally directed CUNY to probe the taxpayer-funded Higher East Facet establishment “to ensure that antisemitic theories are not promoted in the classroom,” her workplace stated in a Tuesday night time assertion.
Within the job itemizing, the four-year CUNY school said: “We seek a historically grounded scholar who takes a critical lens to issues pertaining to Palestine including but not limited to: settler colonialism, genocide, human rights, apartheid, migration, climate and infrastructure devastation, health, race, gender, and sexuality.”
Hochul and CUNY responded Tuesday night time to the outrage from Jewish watchdog teams over the posting.
“Governor Hochul has directed CUNY to immediately remove this job posting and conduct a thorough review of the position to ensure that antisemitic theories are not promoted in the classroom,” a Hochul spokesperson informed The Submit.
“The Governor has continued to strongly condemn all forms of antisemitism and has made clear that hateful rhetoric of any kind has no place at CUNY or anywhere in New York State.”
The job itemizing has since been faraway from CUNY’s web site.
Critics stated the alarming job description peddles antisemitism and is akin to programs provided within the Nazi-era, which ascribed all of the world’s crimes to the Jewish inhabitants.
The Manhattan school, in its posting, stated it was open to “diverse theoretical and methodical approaches” to instructing the contentious course.
CUNY officers “strongly agreed” with Hochul’s resolution to take away the job itemizing, calling the language divisive, polarizing and inappropriate.
“We find this language divisive, polarizing and inappropriate and strongly agree with Governor Hochul’s direction to remove this posting, which we have ensured Hunter College has since done,” Chancellor Felix Matos and Board of Trustees Chairperson William Thompson stated in a joint assertion to The Submit.
“CUNY will continue working with the Governor and other stakeholders to tackle antisemitism on our campuses and combat hate in all of its forms.”
Hunter Faculty, which initially defended the job posting Tuesday afternoon, didn’t instantly reply to The Submit’s request for remark relating to Hochul’s resolution.
Faculty management beforehand touted the varsity for its zero tolerance coverage.
“Our current and future faculty are expected to be well-versed in all scholarship so they can dissect and debunk theories, not promote them,” the school stated in a press release.
CUNY campuses have been infested with Israel bashing and antisemitism that spiked after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of Israel and the ensuing conflict in Gaza, critics declare.
College students, joined by some professors, disrupted and even vandalized some CUNY campuses with anti-Israel protests over the previous yr.
An unbiased probe commissioned by Hochul and launched in September discovered that CUNY wants a top-to-bottom overhaul to fight “alarming’’ antisemitism fanned by its personal college and do-nothing higher-ups.
The state is the principal supply of funding for CUNY’s four-year faculties equivalent to Hunter, and the town chips in to assist pay for its neighborhood schools.
