We’ve Been Heard: Important Update on Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies Director Search
June 14, 2024
JCRC welcomes today’s announcement by Interim President Jeff Ettinger that the search for the next Director for the University of Minnesota’s Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies will start fresh and that there are currently no outstanding offers for the directorship.
Additionally, JCRC appreciates Interim President Ettinger’s acknowledgment that because ‘there are many Minnesota communities and stakeholders who care deeply about the work of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and want to see it succeed… we look forward to engaging them in the search for the next director.’ As the consensus public affairs voice for Minnesota’s Jewish community, charged with the responsibility for commemorating and educating about the Holocaust, JCRC expects to be part of that selection process.
June 11, 2024
Yesterday, after an outpouring of protest from our community, Interim President Jeff Ettinger announced that his office paused the selection process for the next Director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.
Later that same day, Interim President Ettinger graciously invited the JCRC to meet with him next week.
We have also confirmed that going forward there will be more direct community involvement in the Center Director search process.
Clearly, we’ve been heard.
Considering these developments, we are asking our community to pause your messages of protest to the Interim President, Provost, and Regents.
We will continue to keep the community informed of how the search process for the next Center Director develops.
For now, however, thank you again for your incredible efforts.
The JCRC is honored to help lead such a strong community, which continues to be fierce advocates for our right to stand proudly in our Jewish identity. Together, we are making a difference.
Am Yisrael Chai, the people of Israel live.
June 9, 2024
The University of Minnesota is planning to hire a prominent anti-Zionist professor, Raz Segal, to be the next director of its Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies (CHGS).
Outrageously, Segal accused Israel of genocide on Oct. 13, 2023. His debunked extremist views include calling Israel a “settler-colonial power” and dismissing concerns about campus antisemitism. This person is plainly unfit to lead this venerable Minnesota institution. (Read more in TC Jewfolk)
Technically, this appointment can still be blocked, but will require a massive outcry from the community to university leadership expressing our outrage of the weaponization of Holocaust studies against Israel and the Jewish people.
ACT NOW: Tell U of M leaders to reverse this outrageous decision. Please bcc advocacy@minndakjcrc.org for our internal tracking.
Advocacy Template
To: upres@umn.edu, provost@umn.edu, uregents@umn.edu
Subject: Do not hire extremist professor to lead CHGS
Dear Interim President Ettinger, Provost Crosson, and U Regents:
I am writing to firmly oppose the hiring of Raz Segal to lead the U’s Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. This person holds debunked extreme positions that are anathema to the vast majority of American Jews and Holocaust scholars.
Since the Jewish community’s trust in the University is already at an all-time low, hiring someone who demonizes the world’s only Jewish state to lead CHGS would be among the most insulting possible decisions the University could make.
[share in your own words how this hiring decision would impact your trust in the University]
The College of Liberal Arts (CLA) is already the epicenter of anti-Israel and antisemitic activism on campus. Adding a faculty member to lead an academic center historically viewed as a trusted asset and partner of the Jewish community would only exacerbate this problem and contribute to a hostile environment for Jewish students, faculty, and staff who show any empathy for Israelis.
I urge you to reverse this hiring decision immediately.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your University affiliation: alum/donor/faculty/staff/parent/taxpayers/etc.]
[Your address]