The University of Colorado Boulder’s main campus. (Photo courtesy of The University of Colorado Boulder)
The Department of Ethnic Studies has removed its declaration of support for Palestine amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas War from its website, days after it was condemned by university leadership and faced public backlash, according to a statement from the department.
“Because the Department of Ethnic Studies and our faculty, staff and students find ourselves under attack for the statement we had previously shared on our website, we are removing the statement because we do not wish anyone in our community to feel unsafe,” the department’s Oct. 30 update read.
The department’s first statement, released on Oct. 23, was a revised version of one originally published in May 2021. The message said the department stood against President Joe Biden’s request for supplemental funding that includes aid for Israel and directed readers to the Palestinian Feminist Collective pledge, which affirmed “Palestine as a feminist issue.”
“Unfortunately, starting Oct. 7, 2023, over two years later, we witness another unprecedented genocidal attack on the Palestinian people,” the statement read. “An intentional collective punishment and forced displacement with unprecedented levels of air bombings on civilians. This statement affirms our unwavering and continued commitment to a free Palestine.”
A screenshot of the Department of Ethnic Studies’s Oct. 23 statement. The post has since been taken down. (Henry Larson/CU Independent)
An online petition started on Oct. 25, which gathered more than 2,200 signatures as of Oct. 31, criticized the statement for “antisemitic rhetoric” and for not denouncing Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks. At least one pro-Israel Instagram page posted about the statement and called on its more than 40,000 followers to contact university system officials and protest the statement.
University leadership spoke out against the department’s initial message soon after.
“The statement recently posted on the Department of Ethnic Studies website is not an official CU Boulder position on the Israel-Hamas War,” CU Boulder Chancellor Phil DiStefano originally wrote in a message published Oct. 26.
The same day, University System President Todd Saliman decried the post on the Ethnic Studies department site, saying it “was appalling and does not represent CU.”
DiStefano said that speech at CU Boulder was protected by principles of academic freedom and freedom of expression. He said the university was responsible for supporting discussions of important and complex issues but did not endorse viewpoints expressed by any faculty, students or staff.
In his initial message, Distefano referred readers to CU Boulder’s Oct. 11 statement made by the president and chancellors of the university that listed support resources for students in the CU system and condemned Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
In its Oct. 30 update, the department said it is “staunchly against antisemitism and Islamophobia in all forms. We condemn the rising incidents of harm and harassment toward Jewish, Muslim and Arab, specifically Palestinian, peoples.”
The same day the department took down its original post, DiStefano acknowledged the department’s decision in a written message published in CU Boulder Today.
“I want to recognize the Department of Ethnic Studies for its decision to remove its Oct. 22 online statement,” his message read. “Moving forward, I encourage us to continue expressing ourselves, to listen openly to what others are saying and to do so with care, empathy and lasting peace in mind.”
Contact CU Independent Breaking News Editor Ann Marie Vanderveen at ann.vanderveen@colorado.edu.
Contact CU Independent Special Investigations Editor Henry Larson at henry.larson@colorado.edu.
