The president of Sonoma State University (SSU) in California has been placed on leave after sending an email detailing a deal made with the Nazi students at the university. Hey Democrats, the 1930s Germany wants their swastikas back. SSU President Ming-Tung “Mike” Lee announced that the agreement with students, even though he did not have the right to make any deals at all. That would be up to the board that suspended Lee.
The agreement includes a boycott of educational classes with Israel. The second part of the four-part agreement would force the university to disclose all contracts with Israeli companies and reports on “divestment strategies,” which the university would be required to disclose. The university would have also set up an advisory council of “Students for Justice in Palestine” (SJP). The SJP is said to have ties to Hamas, who, like the American students, want to kill all Israelis and Jews.
On Wednesday, one day after Lee sent his email, California State University Chancellor Mildred Garcia issued a statement denouncing the agreement:
“The Board’s leadership and I are actively reviewing the matter and will provide additional details in the near future. For now, because of this insubordination and consequences it has brought upon the system, President Lee has been placed on administrative leave.”
“I want to acknowledge how deeply concerned I am about the impact the statement has had on the Sonoma State community, and how challenging and painful it will be for many of our students and community members to see and read. The heart and mission of the CSU is to create an inclusive and welcoming place for everyone we serve, not to marginalize one community over another.”
Lee sent another email late Wednesday announcing his leave and acknowledging the agreement was a mistake:
VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL“My goal when meeting with students at the encampment was to explore opportunities to make meaningful change, identify common ground and create a safe and inclusive campus for all. I now realize that many of the statements I made in my campus-wide message did just the opposite. In my attempt to find agreement with one group of students, I marginalized other members of our student population and community. I realize the harm that this has caused, and I take full ownership of it.”
Stephen Bittner, chair of SSU’s history department and director of its Center for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide, told the Press Democrat that he was “completely blindsided” by the provisions in the agreement Lee made with the protesters.
“The academic boycott of Israel is atrocious and morally reprehensible, in my view,” he told the outlet before Lee was placed on leave. “It is contrary to the values of scholarly freedom, and free exchange, that are supposed to be at the center of any university.”
