Emma Schaible/Fourth Estate
Resolution proposed at Board of Visitors meeting causes debate
BY SAM DOUGLAS, ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
The Mason Board of Visitors Academic Programs, Diversity and University Community Committee met on Thursday, Feb. 13 in Merten Hall. At the meeting, Visitor Jeffrey A. Rosen proposed a resolution regarding anti-semtitism, which would impact University Policy Number 1201.
The policy, adopted April 2006 and revised in August 2024, states, “George Mason University is committed to providing equal opportunity and an educational and work environment free from any discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, ethnic national origin (including shared ancestry and/or ethnic characteristics), sex, disability, military status (including veteran status), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, pregnancy status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.”
The August 2024 revision added the working definition and examples of anti-semitism from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). It directs Mason’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) office to utilize it “to the extent that they might be useful as evidence of discriminatory intent.”
Rosen’s resolution would direct Mason to publish a fact sheet on IHRA and provide it to all students and faculty. It would call for discrimination against Zionism to be in violation of Policy 1201 and direct Mason to “refrain from sponsoring or endorsing any organization, event, or other activity whose position or posture is anti-semitic under the IHRA definition.”
The proposed resolution sparked backlash, both from the meeting’s audience and online.
The @gmu4palestine Instagram account released a statement before the meeting, “These examples actively work to target student groups fighting for the complete and total liberation of Palestine,” garnering 429 likes in five days.
“Board of Supervisors, all of you make me sick as a former Mason student for even introducing this resolution, this anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab, islamophobic, racist resolution,” one attendee said, before being escorted out by campus security.
“Why are you using my Jewish identity to repress democratic freedoms?” another attendee asked, before also being removed from the room.
Provost and Executive Vice President Jim Antony said that he feels that the university is currently doing a good job addressing discrimination.“Our commitment to actively addressing anti-seminism is unequivocal,” Antony said.
“There have been some high visibility episodes [of anti-semitism] on our campus I regret. The administration has responded forcefully to those, but the fact that they occurred at all is a disappointing reality,” Visitor Rosen said, adding that he was concerned about the conflation between anti-Zionism and anti-semitism.
“Criticism of Zionism is not precluded,” Rosen said. “What is precluded is using that in a harassing or intimidating manner as a proxy.”
Graduate Student Representative Carolyn Faith Hoffman believed the resolution infringes on freedom of speech and questioned if the university had made individual proposals for other minority groups, stating, “While I agree with the widespread education of anti-semitism, I do not believe IHRA and this resolution to be the best, most unbiased sources of education regarding anti-semitism, the Jewish experience, as well as the Palestinian experience.”
Faculty Senate Chair Solon Simmons, Vice President of DEI and Chief Diversity Officer Sharnnia Artis and Faculty Representative Melissa Broeckelman-Post also expressed concerns about the wording of the resolution during the meeting.
The resolution will be further discussed at the next Board of Visitors meeting on Thursday, Feb. 27 in Merten Hall.
