UWM’s Catastrophic Response to Anti-Israel Extremism—and What to Do about It
submitted by Shale Horowitz
Since October 7, 2023, UWM’s anti-Israel student movement has not only supported Hamas’ goal of destroying Israel and its Jewish population, but has imposed its will on campus via both illegal activities and systematic violations of the non-academic code of conduct. Illegal activities have included attempted occupations of administration buildings, disruption of UW Regents meetings, vandalism of UWM’s Golda Meir Library, and a two-week unlawful encampment on UWM property. Code of conduct violations have included a systematic pattern of disrupting Jewish student events and harassing and intimidating Jewish and other pro-Israel students. This has made many Jewish students afraid to participate in campus activities or even to show identifiable signs of Jewishness—such as religious head coverings—on campus.
Even more shocking, however, has been UWM’s response under Chancellor Mark Mone. Mone’s statements moved from moral equivalence between Hamas and Israel into outright support for the rhetoric and methods of the movement to destroy Israel. In the collusive “agreement” to end the illegal encampment, Mone and other top UWM leaders officially endorsed the false charge that Israel had committed genocide, repeated false statistics about civilian casualties, and claimed that damage to educational institutions used as Hamas military bases was the consequence of an unprovoked Israeli plan of “scholasticide.” Mone also supported the economic boycott of Israel—part of the larger movement to destroy Israel—despite a law prohibiting state institutions from doing so.
Mone has also refused to do anything significant about code of conduct violations that harass and intimidate Jewish and other pro-Israel students and disrupt their campus activities. When an April 17 Jewish student group event was disrupted with harassment and intimidation, Mone claimed that no code of conduct violations had occurred. Over the summer, anti-Israel student groups promised to treat any on-campus supporters of Israel’s existence or self-defense efforts as “extremist criminals.” After public outrage led Mone to temporarily suspend the groups, he reinstating them in time for the new fall semester with the argument that such threats are protected by the First Amendment.
Here Mone explicitly claimed that speech protected by the First Amendment could not be subject to disciplinary action under the nonacademic code of conduct. This appears to deny that there is any difference between the street and the university. This ruling greenlit further disruption, harassment, and intimidation aimed at Jewish student organizations and students, which duly occurred during the new semester’s Student Involvement Fair.
Would Mone and other UWM leaders respond in this way to similar activities directed against another ethnic minority? That seems highly unlikely. The atmosphere of fear and intimidation on the UWM campus discriminates against Jewish students in a manner that is prohibited by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
There has been some significant backlash against Mone’s leadership. The UW Board of Regents appears to have forced Mone to resign as of the end of the current academic year. The Regents also announced that UW System leaders must henceforth uphold institutional neutrality on political issues that do not impact the universities’ core educational missions. Nevertheless, Mone continues to privilege the movement to destroy Israel at the expense of upholding UWM’s educational missions and treating all students equally.
How can such leadership abuses and failures be prevented at public universities? While there is no foolproof solution, little reliable progress will occur without direct political accountability. The UW Board of Regents governance system, with its leaders appointed and confirmed for fixed terms, creates a political wall of separation and deniability. Governors and legislators do not have direct control and can more readily disclaim responsibility.
What is the alternative? Governors should have direct authority over leadership and decision-making, as they do for most other executive branch agencies. Such political accountability will also better address other major UW System problems, such as out-of-control costs, increasingly obsolete educational offerings, and falling student enrollments.
For a longer discussion of Mone’s leadership through Spring 2024, see here:
https://www.nas.org/academic-questions/37/4/the-war-on-israel-the-university-of-wisconsin-milwaukee
For more coverage of developments during Summer and Fall 2024, see here:
https://www.wisconsinrightnow.com/uwm-chancellor-mone/
Shale Horowitz is a professor in UWM’s Department of Political Science and the Secretary of the Wisconsin chapter of the National Association of Scholars.