To: The Wellesley College Community
From: President Paula A. Johnson
Re: The College’s commitment to free expression and creating an inclusive community
Date: December 16, 2023
Yesterday, Wellesley’s administration and Board of Trustees received a letter signed by a number of faculty that was made publicly available online today. The letter calls on the administration and Board to state definitively that criticism of the state of Israel and of Zionism is not an expression of antisemitism.
I want to be clear that Wellesley will not make such a statement. Some anti-Israel and anti-Zionist speech can, in fact, create a hostile environment for many of our students. The letter ignores how opinions and statements of the kind expressed in the letter can threaten the existence of Israel and increase fears for Jewish students on our campus. Again, Wellesley strongly rejects any invitation to contribute to these harms.
Wellesley embraces free expression in alignment with our policy on demonstrations and free expression and with the AAUP 1940 Statement on Academic Freedom (with the 1970 revision) endorsed by the Academic Council in May 2020. This freedom extends to faculty, staff and students who wish to express solidarity with Palestinians and to oppose the policies of the Israeli government. The College will continue to defend this principle, which is foundational to the mission of a liberal arts college.
However, the College’s obligation to create an inclusive campus community, where all feel safe and welcome, does not end when speech, demonstrations, or other forms of protest or activism are deemed legally permissible. Even protected speech can create an environment that is hostile and endangers the non-discrimination rights of affected students. Jewish students, Israeli students, Muslim students, Arab students, Palestinian students, and all other students have the right to an educational environment free from discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.
Wellesley condemns in the strongest terms antisemitism, as well as anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian discrimination and all other forms of hate on our campus. Wellesley is committed to promoting an inclusive community and will promptly review conduct that potentially creates a hostile environment for individuals in our academic community. Our student life team is available to offer support to our students.
Nearly 400 of Wellesley’s faculty and staff participated in Title VI training sessions held last week to learn how each of us can stand against all forms of hate in our community and work to ensure that all of our students are able to access our programs and activities without discrimination or harassment. Faculty and staff can still register to attend Monday’s training session, and a recording will be made available to those unable to attend a live webinar. Please take this time to review our policies and processes for reporting incidents of discrimination, including anonymous reporting.
We recognize that this is a very difficult time in the world, and we are all deeply pained by the loss of innocent civilian lives in Gaza and Israel. But at times like this it is even more important that we strive to build an inclusive community that values free expression and recognizes the inherent dignity of different lived experiences.
