UConn officials say they will not meet with student protestors after flyers with “grotesque” and “unacceptable” antisemitic imagery characterizing President Radenka Maric were circulated at a campus protest Monday.
The flyers showed various depictions of Maric, at times adorned with red devil horns, accompanied with images of missiles and dollar bills and in others as a horned boar. The imagery is longstanding and unmistakable, Anne D’Alleva, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and Nathan Fuerst, vice president for student life and enrollment, wrote in a letter to UConn Divest, a pro-Palestinian student protest group, Thursday.
The letter’s authors acknowledge that students may not have been aware of the implications of the imagery.
“Whatever the intent, these images are examples of grotesque and unacceptable antisemitism that will be instantly recognizable to countless Jews, and many others,” the letter said. “It is deeply wrong and dangerous to deploy imagery such as this. Depicting a Jewish female administrator with “devil horns,” as a pig, or using obscene and vulgar expressions, are not amusing caricatures – they are dark and troubling images deeply rooted in history that have been associated with hatred and violence for centuries, in addition to being openly misogynistic.”
Student demonstrations, including a tent encampment, began last year and culminated in the arrest of 24 students and one former student. Throughout that time, students requested a meeting with Maric with the goal of negotiating an end to UConn’s partnership with any companies tied to the Israel-Hamas war.
According to UConn Divest, Monday’s protest came one week after a deadline to meet with Maric on Sept. 9 came and went. The coalition said organizers set the deadline at the start of the fall semester to discuss divestment and securing Maric’s commitment to call on the Office of the State’s Attorney to drop all charges against the 25 students and one alumnus who were arrested by UConn Police at peaceful demonstrations in April. UConn Divest said students intended to continue protesting until the group secures a date to meet with Maric by early October, according to a press release Sunday.
According to the D’Alleva and Fuerst letter, no meeting will be scheduled following Monday’s protest.
“We are an academic institution that thrives on dialogue and the free exchange of ideas,” the letter said. “Additionally, we have a duty to enforce our policies and an obligation to address acts of harassment and discrimination that create a hostile learning or work environment for our students, faculty, and staff. We know that the vast majority of our community stand against antisemitism, Islamophobia, and hate of any kind. Elements of what was witnessed during the demonstration do not represent our overall community or our values for an inclusive campus.
“Based on the events of September 16, at this time we decline to agree to further meetings or discussions with representatives from the UConn Divest group,” the letter said.
“We were prepared to schedule additional meetings between student representatives from your
group and university leaders to discuss and address the issues you raised,” the letter said. However, in the interim, we witnessed expressions and actions that are deeply disturbing, counter to our values as an inclusive community, and make further meetings or discussions with your student group at this time untenable.”
The letter noted that, “on September 16 a group of about 25 – 30 students organized by the “UConn Divest” group, as seen on social media, gathered and walked to Gulley Hall to demonstrate. The gatherings included signs, printed fliers, and chalk drawings on the sidewalks around the building, in addition to chanting and shouting.”
The letter continued, “those demonstrating had every right to do so, and those who participated have every right to their opinions as a matter of free speech and expression. However, in multiple
instances during the demonstration UConn’s president, Radenka Maric, who is Jewish, was
depicted on fliers and in drawings as having protruding “horns” on her head, and as a swine.
Whether the authors of these images were aware of it or not, these are well-known, long-
standing, and unmistakable antisemitic symbols, with origins going back hundreds of years.
Their presence and use at the demonstration was documented in photos taken of the
gathering, which were also shared on social media, as well as in a report that was published in
the Hartford Courant.”
D’Alleva and Fuerst encouraged the students to rethink their approach, drawing on the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the Dean of Students, the cultural centers and programs, and faith communities to do so.
UConn Divest’s apparent response to the letter on Instagram Thursday morning said the Monday protest followed “months of attempts to start a productive dialogue with the administration,” notes their meeting deadline and said “Since then, they have ignored us.”
Students noted that Monday Maric was escorted out past protesters and did not look at them.
“The Maric administration has made it abundantly clear that they do not care about addressing community concerns, respecting students’ rights and liberties, or fulfilling their responsibilities as leaders of this university,” the post said.
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