A Most Bloody Year

By Amy Barenboim on June 17, 2018

Rutgers Building

I use the word “bloody” in this title, not because there has been actual blood shed at Rutgers this year, but because there is a sense of something bubbling to the surface. Swastikas, White supremacy pamphlets, and “black lives don’t matter” posters are just the external signs of something much deeper brewing. This is why Rutgers’ President Robert Barchi’s recent statement concerning these acts is so alarming. As reported by dailymail.co.uk, Barchi referred to the swastikas spray painted on Stonier Hall as “free speech, it’s not hate speech.”

Why do Barchi and his administration seem to care more about those who supposedly have the “right” to spray paint swastikas, than those who are threatened by the swastikas? Why do they seem to care more about the Dickbutt cartoons drawn around Cook/Douglass campus fall 2016, than someone spray painting “Viva La Deportation!” outside the Livingston Student Center?

Furthermore, why has Barchi not officially reached out to the Rutgers student body as a whole, through email or otherwise? The recent rise is white supremacy activity on campus, along with anti-Semitic actions would obviously cause great psychological torment and potentially physical torment. Would that decrease in student morale not be a concern of the president of Rutgers?

There seems to be two answers: either Barchi and his administration is merely lazy, or he simply does not care. The former seems unlikely given the efforts to curb student organizing and protests, hence the Board of Governors’ recent revision to the student code of conduct’s Disruption Policy. The latter seems more likely. The general indifference of Barchi and his administration to prejudice, regardless of what can be done legally, is astounding. Little attention seems to be paid to the psychological well-being of the Rutgers student body. It’s time for Barchi to stop treating Rutgers like a “business, not a charity.”

The recent attitudes towards faculty behavior, specifically Michael Chikandas’ anti-Semitic facebook posts, has also been questionable. As reported by Tapinto New Brunswick, Barchi asked “but the question is, does having posted that create an environment in his work that would compromise his ability to teach or to do research?” The very fact that Barchi would ask this question shows that he fundamentally understand the ramifications of hate speech. Of course posting making anti-Semitic posts would affect Chikandas’ ability to teach, and foster an open environment. Because he does not have basic respect for 18% of the undergraduate population.

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