UWM Letter — Antisemitism

To the UWM Board of Regents,

There is a dire situation that has been unfolding at UW-Milwaukee, and we cannot remain silent anymore: The Jewish community has been under attack all of spring and into the summer. UWM’s anti-Israel student groups are now openly threatening Jews and others who support Israel’s existence and right of self-defense.

Mark Mone, the President of UWM, has refused to respond to Jewish students’ or alumni concerns about his actions over the last 8 months. In a May 12 agreement to end the illegal anti-Israel encampment, UWM President Mark Mone officially endorsed the student groups’ lies about Israel and accused Israel of genocide. He also supported the anti-Israel boycot and partnered with the groups to promote future activities at UWM. Finally, Mone promised that he would not take action against the students who had violated the law or the university’s rules.

Wisconsin law with regard to free speech is as follows (UWS 17.01): “The missions of the University of Wisconsin System … can be realized only if the university’s teaching, learning, research and service activities occur in living and learning environments that are safe and free from violence, harassment, fraud, theft, disruption and intimidation.” Students are allowed free speech but cannot use coercion or violence to intimidate their classmates. The “pro-Palestinian students’” anti-Jewish propaganda was endangering the safety of not only Jewish students on campus, but also others in the community. UWM allowed this to persist without any consequence for these individuals and took zero actions in defense of its tuition-paying students.

Under Wisconsin law, it was illegal for students to be camping out at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for weeks at a time, as happened this spring. The law says: “No person may picnic or camp on university lands, except in areas specifically designated as picnic or camping grounds. These rules include pitching tents or overnight use of sleeping bags, blankets, makeshift shelters, motor homes, campers or camp trailers on university property.”

We are asking the UWM Board of Regents to:

1. Rescind the agreement made between UW-Milwaukee and the pro-Palestinian protesters.

2. Require UWM to issue a public statement to the community in support of the Jewish community, including an apology for accusing Israel of committing genocide.

3. The UW Board of Regents should adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism, so that next time anti-semitic acts take place on campus they are clearly defined under universally accepted guidelines, and universities will be able to take appropriate actions under the guidelines.

4. We ask the Board of Regents to urge UWM to stop negotiating with student-led rioters on its campus, and encourage them to prosecute those who are endangering the lives of others and/or violating Wisconsin state law.

These anti-semitic rioters are not simply "going away". With UWM’s encouragement, they will continue to make demands into the fall and beyond. Your students are the ones who will suffer the consequences unless actions are taken NOW to rectify this situation.

Cordially,
[ YOUR NAME ]

TO: kyle.weatherly@wisconsin.edu, karen.walsh@wisconsin.edu, mark.tyler@wisconsin.edu, amy.traynor@wisconsin.edu, statesuperintendent@dpi.wi.gov, ashok.rai@wisconsin.edu, joan.prince@wisconsin.edu, cris.peterson@wisconsin.edu, edmund.manydeeds@wisconsin.edu, james.kreuser@wisconsin.edu, haben.goitom@wisconsin.edu, hector.colon@wisconsin.edu, evan.brenkus@wisconsin.edu, amy.bogost@wisconsin.edu, angela.adams@wisconsin.edu, jsalzwed@amfam.com, tnixon@gklaw.com, eversinfo@wisconsin.gov