All isn’t sunny at the Florence and Chafetz Hillel House. At the Boston University Hillel event “All Students, All Israel Think Tank,” on Jan. 28, a group of students — mostly comprised of students of color — was approached by an armed police officer and asked to leave due to not being part of an “inner circle,” according to a Wednesday statement from attendees Marlo Kalb and Ibraheem Samirah.
At least one student had registered for the event, and the group was the only group with students of color at the event, according to the statement.
The group asked why they were being asked to leave. The officer said she was just following orders. An event organizer then approached the group and told them to leave because the students were reportedly being disruptive prior to the beginning of the event.
John Battaglino, assistant dean of students and director of student activities, said Hillel had the right to ask students to leave if it thought they would be disruptive to the event, according to the statement.
Kalb referred to the incident as “humiliating” and said Hillel showed that “certain students are not welcome [there].” The group posted a video of the incident to YouTube.
The expelled students said they were unfairly asked to leave the dialogue at Hillel due to their pro-Palestine views, according to the statement.
The group has made four demands.
First: “A public apology from Boston University Hillel, President [Robert] Brown, Dean [Kenneth] Elmore and Assistant Dean Battaglino and a public condemnation of the discrimination that took place at the event ‘All Students All Israel Think Tank.’”
Second: “Training for Boston University Hillel staff on cultural sensitivity to make Hillel a safe space for all students.”
Third: “[The release of] any information pertaining to the relationship between Hillel International, Boston University Hillel and Boston University, be it financial or political, to the public.”
And finally: The “opening of Boston University Hillel spaces for all Boston University-wide functions.”
There’s no way to tell what the students were planning to do at the dialogue, but if they hadn’t caused any disruption prior to the event, then there’s no reason why the police should’ve told them to leave.
This incident cannot be completely taken at face value. The student group just wanted to attend an event in Hillel. In ejecting them, Battaglino, representing the university, assumed the students were going to cause a stir. But the group did not give any sign that they were going to make a scene, and for banning these students from an event, the university behaved discriminatorily.
If we assume the student group did not plan to take any disruptive action and simply wanted to sit in on a dialogue, then they should have been able to do so. The event was open to the public on Facebook, after all.
Ever since 2015’s wave of campus protests and demonstrations, it looks like BU is doing as much as it can to suppress a major scene. BU took a precaution to remove a group that could’ve disrupted the event. But in doing so, it put itself in the middle of an even larger and more significant uproar.
The group sounds like it’s made up of activists who just want to do activism.
Some members of the group were outspoken pro-Palestine activists, and they should realize that the majority of the BU student body and the university’s administration clearly aren’t responding to their efforts. The group must come up with new ways to get its message across instead of pestering minor university events.
And the group’s demands are a little overblown. Yes, Hillel staff should be required to go through cultural sensitivity training if this incident is any indication of how they handle matters of cultural differences. But releasing information about the relationship between BU and Hillel is a little extreme for an incident of such a small scale. And condemning a campus organization is too extreme. Brown and Elmore have no obligation to apologize to this group of students. They weren’t involved with this event in any way. Besides, Brown doesn’t comment on anything unless there’s a tuition hike or a national tragedy.
Furthermore, Hillel doesn’t need to open itself up to all BU-wide functions. Hillel is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, according to its website. It’s meant to be a safe space for Jewish students on college campuses. It is not entirely associated with student organizations and should not be required in any way to make itself available for all purposes.
As it is, anyone can gather in Hillel. Both Jewish and non-Jewish students hang out together in the building already. In a sense, Hillel is already a peaceful space for everyone.
This David and Goliath battle is too murky to pick a side. All that’s apparent is that it’s unfair to completely paint Hillel as a discriminatory and unwelcoming place. Hillel wants people to experience Jewish culture. The organization may have its hidden problems, and maybe this group is doing good in speaking out against it. But one perspective doesn’t make a story.
A previous version of this story said that a group of students of color was approached by an armed police officer and asked to leave. It was brought to the editorial board’s attention that two white students were also part of the group. This correction is reflected in the story above
Anyone reading this should look up a picture of Marlo Kalb. It will instantly become clear that she is not a person of color and that her and her friends often use the term to make their hatred of Israel and Jews into a white vs. color issue. Take a stroll through Hillel and you’ll find quite a lot of people who could be categorized as “people of color,” and even those whose families, while not people of color, have experienced anything but privilege for generations. It is also no coincidence that every one of the members of this supposedly random group of “concerned students” are also members of students for justice in palestine. These people are nothing but narcissistic, pathetic excuses for students that love hearing their own voices. Marlo, check your privilege and cry yourself to sleep.
I specifically told the editor at the Daily Free Press that we were *mostly* students of color. I told them that I was one of the two students that was part of the group of students asked to leave.
This is an error of the Daily Free Press.
However, there is no question that I was discriminated against because of my political views. Why is a Jew like me banned from an building supposedly aiming to support all Jews on campus?
two white students that was part of the group of students asked to leave*
so what if some of these students also happen to be part of SJP? I don’t understand how that makes expelling them out of the space any better…………..
The day Marlo Kalb, one of the whitest people I’ve ever seen, can identify as a “student of color” is the day that the saying “an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind” must have come true.
I have never seen a more poorly-written piece on the FREEP riddled with fallacies and incorrect statements.
“on Jan. 28, a group of students of color was approached by an armed police officer and asked to leave”
First of all, the statement doesn’t say that the entire group was students of color, some students were NOT students of color but the majority of the group was, so whoever wrote this article needs to do some fact-checking before publishing misleading garbage like this.
Second, you first state that “the student group just wanted to attend an event in Hillel. In ejecting them, Battaglino, representing the university, assumed the students were going to cause a stir. But the group did not give any sign that they were going to make a scene, and for banning these students from an event, the university behaved discriminatorily,” but then you go on to say “some members of the group were outspoken pro-Palestine activists, and they should realize that the majority of the BU student body and the university’s administration clearly aren’t responding to their efforts. The group must come up with new ways to get its message across instead of pestering minor university events,”
I do not understand how it is possible for the EDITORS of the FREEP to make blatant contradictions of things they are claiming in the same breath! You first assert that the students hadn’t caused any disruptions then you go on to discuss how these students were actually “pestering” minor events? And how exactly did you make the assumption that these students were “pestering” the event? If I didn’t know any better I would assume that two DIFFERENT individuals wrote this article!
Thirdly “But releasing information about the relationship between BU and Hillel is a little extreme for an incident of such a small scale. And condemning a campus organization is too extreme,” How exactly is it an incident that is “small scale” if students were kept from practicing their rights of freedom of speech, political opinion and even mobility? If in fact this is an issue of discrimination, this is by NO means an incident of SMALL SCALE. This is a very big issue that the university has to confront before asserting that a space is open or inclusive. Even further, the lack of political or civil imagination in this article is sta.gger.ing. Just because “Brown doesn’t comment on anything unless there’s a tuition hike or a national tragedy,” does not mean he shouldn’t. In fact, Brown has commented before on the issues of discrimination and inclusion on campus, and if in fact these students were kicked out for no reason other than the way they look or some wild stereotypes or generalizations about their possible future actions, then Brown should comment and put his money where his mouth is.
“Furthermore, Hillel doesn’t need to open itself up to all BU-wide functions. Hillel is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, according to its website. It’s meant to be a safe space for Jewish students on college campuses. It is not entirely associated with student organizations and should not be required in any way to make itself available for all purposes.”
Well, I have some news for you. If Hillel is being funded by UNIVERSITY DOLLARS, which according to BU Today it is, then it is no longer an independent organization and is subject to the laws mandated by the university, which assert that all university funded spaces should be open to all BU-Wide functions. I invite you to do some fact-checking and understand the intricacies of student liberties.
What an outrageous editorial with poor fact checking and just overall contradictions. Very disappointing work for students looking for a future in journalism.
This kind of poor writing, bias and total disregard for a balanced press is the very reason I quit as a writer for the Daily Free Press. I refuse to be associated with something like this.
I thought Hillel was totally self funded? When did that change? Why would BU agree to support such a wealthy organization? Not to mention all the money that gets donated yearly to Hillel by its extremely loaded families and corporate sponsors. Hillel is also funded by Jewish Federation and Israel. They don’t need money trust me!! I also know that the Hillel house is donated initially by the family who’s name is on the building. Its mortgage and bills are paid for by Hillel and yearly donations. Not BU?!?!? They have real things to pay for like funding teacher salaries, staff, paying for the dorms, the heating bill, maintenance etc. It goes on and on. If they are wasting precious dollars on Hillel and other private organizations I would be very concerned about who is in charge of the budget committee.
An armed police officer? All police officers are armed. Quit making it sound like a police state. You went to an event to disrupt it and you were asked to leave by the BU Police. In addition you were more than happy to make this a racial issue when it sounds like you were forced to correct yourself. Not sure what is so appalling about this.