Letter to the Editor: Following Rose Ritch resignation, USC’s climate of inclusion must be redefined to include Zionism

In light of op-eds and social media comments regarding former Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Vice President Rose Ritch’s resignation, we would like to bring to the attention of Daily Trojan readers our “Open Letter to the USC Community,” published on usc-faaz.org and signed by 43 distinguished USC faculty members.

We, the authors of this letter, are also two of the signatories. We write to communicate the main points raised in the Open Letter and offer our personal opinions. The Open Letter expresses an important perspective absent in previous Daily Trojan articles on the subject.

The Open Letter’s signatories, who include prominent members of national and international academies, dedicated educators and researchers in medicine, science, humanities, the arts and communication and champions of human rights and free speech, are calling on the campus community to reject the climate of discrimination and intolerance that led to Ritch’s resignation.

The Open Letter raised concerns that “Rose Ritch was subjected to vicious online harassment, and her qualification to hold elected office was questioned on the basis of her professed Zionism.”

Personally, we believe that anti-Zionism is just as reprehensible as any other form of identity-based prejudice or hatred. We do not address here whether the attacks on Ritch originated from anti-Semitism (the subject of an Aug. 24 Daily Trojan letter to the editor and an article in Inside Higher Education). Nor do we address the point that, for some, Zionism is merely a political opinion. What is important is that, for Ritch, Zionism constitutes an important component of her identity as a Jew, and she felt unable to continue her elected service in USG due to repeated acts of intimidation on account of her professed Zionist identity. A climate that permits such intimidation has no place on our campus.

The Open Letter states that no student should experience discrimination on the basis of his or her beliefs, identity or national origin.

The Open Letter rejects “attempts to associate Zionism with such inflammatory accusations as racism, colonialism, and white supremacy, which are diametrically antithetical to Zionist ideas and aims. We are appalled that such characterizations of Zionism were the basis for calls for Rose Ritch’s resignation, and continue to be voiced by certain organizations on this campus.”

The Open Letter further states, “As supporters of the Zionist idea — the right of the Jewish people to a homeland and self-determination — we stand by the rights of all people, including Israelis and Palestinians, to freedom, dignity and peaceful coexistence, and to advocate for their causes with fairness and respect on our campus and in the world.”

What happened to Ritch is unacceptable to us because it reveals that merely being a supporter (or presumed supporter) of Israel can be considered by some to be a disqualifying factor when  holding a leadership position on campus. The Open Letter adds that this concerns “Jewish students, faculty, and staff at USC, dedicated contributors to this campus’s excellence and visibility, whose fitness to continue their service may come under attack.”

The Open Letter is not a petition. It does not demand specific actions from our campus leadership. We understand that education and culture change take time, and we are optimistic that the initiatives put forward by President Carol Folt and reaffirmed in Provost Charles Zukoski’s reply to the Open Letter will eventually bear fruit. We know that understanding complex issues such as the Middle East conflict requires significant intellectual investment and does not result in simplistic answers. Rather, the Open Letter is an invitation to reflect on what we, as a community, define as a climate of inclusion, respect for diverse opinions and civil exercise of democracy.

However, the two of us personally believe that students and faculty who identify as Zionists should be recognized on our campus as an identity-bonded group and treated with the same respect afforded other groups under the big tent of diversity and inclusion. We also believe that identity politics should not taint academic life and should not be employed to evaluate candidates for elected leadership positions. This is particularly important in view of the upcoming elections to USG.

As the Open Letter concludes, “We call on our university’s leadership to uphold the values of open and civilized debate, so that USC can continue its mission of fostering excellence in education and advancing knowledge in a civil and respectful manner.”

We encourage students and faculty to read the Open Letter in full to better understand our position and the reasons for our alarm.

Respectfully,

Arieh Warshel, Department of Chemistry; Nobel Laureate; Dana and David Dornsife Chair in Chemistry; Member, National Academy of Sciences

Anna Krylov, Department of Chemistry; Professor of Chemistry; Member, International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science