The University of Southern California campus. Photo: Padsquad19 / Wikimedia Commons

The University of Southern California (USC) defended on Friday its efforts to address antisemitism on campus, in a private letter addressed to a group of 60 faculty calling for the censure of an engineering student who had posted a series of violently antisemitic tweets.

The faculty group’s Dec. 1 open letter described their “dismay about ongoing expressions of antisemitism and Zionophobia on our campus that go unrebuked.” They cited statements by a USC Viterbi School of Engineering student who in mid-2021 tweeted, “I want to kill every motherf**king Zionist” and “Death to Israel and its b**ch the U.S.,” among other comments.

“We urge you to condemn the hateful content of these statements and to reaffirm that such views are contrary to USC’s values,” the group of concerned faculty wrote. “Most importantly, Jewish, Zionist, and Israeli students, as well as those who support the right of the State of Israel to exist need to hear from our leaders that they are welcome on our campus.”

Their letter also discussed the August 2020 online harassment of Rose Ritch, an undergraduate who resigned as vice president of the student government due to abuse faced for supporting Israel, as well as the USC Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies’ posting of a May statement that accused Israel of ethnic cleansing and apartheid. Both incidents were the subject of previous faculty letters decrying antisemitism at USC.

Responding in a Friday letter seen by The Algemeiner, USC President Carol L. Folt said the administration was “disturbed” by the offending tweets, but argued it it could not discuss matters about specific students publicly.

“The fact that we do not respond to every objectionable post is most likely because we are unaware of them until they are brought to our attention, or because they are being dealt with privately,” she wrote. “Just because an individual is associated with the university does not mean that they represent us or that we accept their views. Our mission is to educate our community to be more considerate and thoughtful, and to engage in open and civil discussion and debate.”

President Folt also pointed to the university’s work with Jewish campus groups and other programs, and added that the student had been removed from her job as a paid peer mentor of USC first-years. In November, Viterbi School of Engineering tweeted that offending tweets were “legally protected” but “disturbing” nonetheless, and said it condemned hatred in all forms.

“Unfortunately, more incidents like these involving social media will likely arise in the future,” Folt wrote. “We sincerely appreciate your concerns and agree completely that antisemitism has no place on our campuses now or in the future.”

The response left some critics unsatisfied, with Miriam Elman — executive director of the Academic Engagement Network, a non-profit that counters antisemitism on campus — arguing that the administration needed to go public.

“The private condemnation of antisemitism on the USC campus in general and this student’s deplorable social media commentary in particular is great, but the university needs to make sure the university at large gets the memo,” she told The Algemeiner Monday. “These private actions and messages to faculty can’t take the place of a clear, unequivocal and forceful campus-wide statement.”