Statement from Vice Chancellor and Provost Michele G. Wheatly Reinforcing University’s Anti-Discrimination Policies

Syracuse University is aware of media reports about students receiving credit for internships with the Syracuse Peace Council, which sponsored a public forum at an off-campus site last month at which inflammatory comments about Israel and Palestinian groups were made by several speakers. None of those speakers is currently employed at Syracuse University and the University did not sponsor or endorse the event.

As stated in our anti-discrimination policies, there is absolutely no place at Syracuse University for anti-Semitism or behavior or language that degrades any individual or group, including on the basis of creed, ethnicity, citizenship, sexual orientation, national origin, sex, gender, pregnancy, disability, marital status, political or social affiliation, age, race, color, veteran status, military status, religion, sexual orientation, domestic violence status, genetic information, gender identity, gender expression or perceived gender. These are foundational values that drive our university initiatives and define our culture.

Syracuse University also supports and protects the principle of academic freedom. All members of the University community have a right to use the academic forum provided by the University to discuss controversial subjects and to express ideas with which some or most of the members of the community strongly disagree. As part of these principles, students may choose to participate in internships at private and nonprofit organizations that advocate for many different points of view. Providing credit for experiential learning does not imply that the University endorses any organization outside of its ability to provide an internship, but we support the desire to seek new knowledge and create perspectives based on scholarship and research.

Finally, Syracuse University has made clear we support and encourage discussion and debate around important and complex issues of peace, security and justice in the Middle East. As we have stated in the past, Syracuse University does not support any boycott of Israeli academic institutions or faculty, which run counter to the open exchange of knowledge, ideas and perspectives.