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Student Association unanimously passed a bill Monday that condemns anti-Semitism at Syracuse University.

The bill, which SU junior Rebecca Sereboff and members of SA sponsored, adopts specific parts of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of anti-Semitism on campus. The resolution condemns all acts of racism, bigotry and violence against the Jewish community and calls for SA to be a model for the student body in education and training related to anti-Semitism. 

“It’s an inherently Jewish value to be there for your neighbors and to repair the world,” Sereboff said after the meeting. “The language choice there is intentional to ensure that legitimate activism, debate and academic inquiry is never disrupted or targeted or discriminated against.”

A similar bill was proposed in February but was tabled indefinitely due to concerns about how it was worded. Some members of SA said a clause that denounced BDS, a Palestinian-led movement that support boycotts, divestments and economic sanctions against Israel, could be seen as discriminatory toward Palestinian students.

The updated bill removed the clause.

“For the folks who sponsored the resolution and I, it is of utmost importance that, while we protect our own communities, we don’t target or discriminate against others because how are we supposed to protect our own community if we aren’t working to protect others?” Sereboff said.

The bill also includes “actionble steps” for SA members and other community leaders to access anti-Semitism training, including a Stop BIAS program through Syracuse Hillel, Sereboff said. It also encourages SA to propose the definition to SU’s administration to ensure that it’s accepted across campus, she said. 

SA President Justine Hastings said that she’s planning to meet with Katelyn Cowen, the director of SU’s Office of Health Promotion at SU, and Tanya Williamson, the associate director for diversity and inclusion at the Barnes Center at The Arch, to discuss the university’s COVID-19 vaccine education initiatives. 

The education campaign will incorporate social media, video content, expert panels and other forms of communication to inform the campus community about the vaccine, Hastings said. Cowen and Williamson plan on reaching marginalized groups on campus that have historically had limited access to health care or experienced descrimination in the medical system, she said. 

Hastings said she will talk to Cowen and Williamson about the ways SA can be involved in the campaign.

“The goal is to create a comprehensive campaign that includes information regarding the vaccine as well as addresses concerns many of our students have regarding vaccination in general,” Hastings said.

Published on March 23, 2021 at 12:15 am