UCLA's Troubling Question for Jewish Students Everywhere
The case of a woman whose impartiality was questioned by a judicial board illustrates how anti-Semitism works on campus today.
“Given that you are a woman and very active in the female community, how do you see yourself being able to maintain an unbiased view?”
“Given that you are black and very active in the black community, how do you see yourself being able to maintain an unbiased view?”
“Given that you are gay and very active in the gay community, how do you see yourself being able to maintain an unbiased view?”
It seems obvious that any of these questions would be repudiated on almost any college campus, or in any polite company. Yet somehow, a few UCLA students thought the following was an appropriate question for a nominee for the student Judicial Board: “Given that you are a Jewish student and very active in the Jewish community, how do you see yourself being able to maintain an unbiased view?”
Ultimately, Rachel Beyda, a sophomore, was confirmed to the role. But the line of questioning has sparked a conversation about anti-Semitism at UCLA and on college campuses more broadly. (The story's path—from the student-run Daily Bruin to Jewish outlets, then on to conservative blogs and finally, on Friday, The New York Times, is an interesting case study in how a story becomes a national headline.)
Members were apparently concerned that Beyda, who is also a member of campus Hillel and a Jewish sorority, would be able to rule impartially on issues before the board. Of course, there are many possible identities that could be involved in issues before the board, but Judaism was particularly close to members' minds because Beyda's nomination came not long after a bruising campus debate about "BDS," or Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, a push to get universities to isolate Israel. UCLA's student government eventually approved a non-binding resolution calling on the university to divest from a list of companies it said was complicit in the occupation of the West Bank.
Students debated Beyda's nomination for some 40 minutes on February 10.Reading the minutes, one can track the students wrestling with the impropriety of the question, and at the end, Beyda was confirmed unanimously. She has declined to speak to media outlets, including The Atlantic, citing her role in student government. But following the meeting, a friend of Beyda's wrote to theBruin, calling on members of the Judicial Board to apologize. Two days later, their apology appeared in the paper. UCLA's chancellor also condemned the tenor of the discussion, and the Times quoted campus Jewish leaders rattled by the conversation and worried about anti-Semitism on campus.
Others, while appalled by the line of questioning, were more sanguine, saying UCLA doesn't feel like an anti-Semitic environment. (UCLA was not among the top 30 public universities in Jewish population in 2014, according to Hillel International, but it was in 2013.)
"I looked at what the students actually discussed, and my opinion of this is that Accusations of Anti-Semitism at UCLA After Judicial Board Vote - The Atlantic:
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