This commentary is by Jules Older, who graduated from the University of Vermont in 1962, earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from New York University, was raised in Reform Judaism, and now lives in New Zealand.
Even from this distance, I find myself embroiled in the kerfuffle over antisemitism at the University of Vermont. I feel like I’m slogging through ever-deeper Vermont mud.
Still, I have advice for all the involved parties. Qualifications? I’m a UVM grad and have taught both medical students and prospective writers there. I’ve fought for justice for Black Americans (got arrested for that), Maori New Zealanders (wrote my first book about that), and for discriminated-against Asian students.
That’s me. Here’s my advice.
To distraught Jews: Take a deep breath. Slowwwly exhale. Then, double-check your information. If some of it’s wrong, publicly ‘fess up.
Example: If the administration’s investigation is right, and the stoning of Hillel was nothing more than friends tossing pebbles at the window of a sick pal, say so.
More advice: If you have been wronged, don’t just tell fellow Jews about it — ask for aid from other good people. And go to their aid when they need you.
To President Garimella: I give you credit for speedily investigating complaints and more credit for publicly responding to them. But you blow all that credit when you open with: “UVM is a community with a long, proud history of inclusiveness. We denounce hateful actions and respond briskly and decisively whenever those responsible are identified.”
In a word, no. UVM was launched with those ideals, but successive administrations did anything but. Examples:
- Crystal Malone. In 1946, Alpha Xi Delta sorority pledged a Black student named Crystal Malone. In response, the national sorority president came to Vermont to declare: Toss her out or face national censure. The chapter told the administration that would mean its demise at UVM. President J.S. Millis responded, “This is a matter between the local sorority and the national.” Dean of Women Mary Jane Simpson declared, “It was not a matter of University of Vermont policy.” Despite this lack of support, the chapter refused to toss Crystal and was soon forced to close its doors forever. UVM’s reaction? It named a dorm for Simpson.
- Cut to 1958. Dean of Women Anna Rankin Harris and her assistant, Margaret Wing — for whom two more dorms were named — maintained a policy of strict segregation of freshman girls by religion, by wealth, and by — wait for it — height. If you were short, Protestant and poor, chances are you would be living with someone else short, Protestant and poor.
- 1961. This one’s personal. Around midnight on a warm, spring evening, I was walking home from a date. Passing Waterman, I saw a guy dumping beer bottles into the mailbox. He bounded across Prospect Street and proceeded to beat the bejeezus out of me. There was enough Jew-hating in his words that I realized he knew me and was probably another student. Both turned out to be true. I reported him to the police for assault. Was the dean of men’s response to kick the thug out of college? No, it was to try to convince me to drop the complaint.
- Kake Walk. Not until 1969 did the minstrel-show leftover, Kake Walk, disappear from the UVM calendar. Based on slave dancing on Southern plantations, Kake Walk made its way to Vermont complete with blackface, kinky wigs and a Stepin Fetchit shuffle. What did our administrators replace it with? Oktoberfest. Talk about insensitivity! They replace Stepin Fetchit with “Deutschland Uber Alles.”
- Finally, 2022. President Garimella, I hope I have this wrong, but is that teacher’s assistant in question still a TA? If she is, and in her pre-TA days, she really threatened to lower the grades of Jewish students — or any group of students — and encouraged others to cyber-bully and ostracize them, how is she still working with students at UVM?
- To UVM Empowering Survivors: Take this short “Am I a Bigot?” test. Ready?
- If you take a stand against Israel and other countries whose actions you deplore, though others may disagree with your stance, you’re not a bigot but a fighter for human rights. Mazel tov.
- If you take a stand against Israel and ignore:
- Afghanistan’s utter subjugation of women
- Australia’s disgraceful treatment of Aborigines
- China’s suppression of its Muslim minorities
- Ethiopia’s deliberate starvation of Eritreans
- Iran’s utter subjugation of women
- Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine
- Saudi Arabia’s utter subjugation of women
then, you’ve been sucked into the devil’s chamber of bigotry and antisemitism.
How’d you do on the test, UVM Empowering Survivors? Not so well? Don’t blame the PLO for your descent into darkness — blame yourself. You’re old enough to drink, old enough to think. And old enough to be responsible for your own decisions. I implore you — wake up and smell the brimstone.
One more thing. You have “survivors” in your name. Who do you think settled the tiny sliver of land that was the original Israel until every neighboring Arab state declared war on it? Answer: Those European Jews who managed to survive the Nazi death camps.
And finally, to that other no-Zionists-allowed outfit, “UVM Revolutionary Socialist Union”: Revolutionary Socialist Union? Really?