3000 Stanford University students have signed a petition demanding the reinstatement of a lecturer who was temporarily suspended by the university after he reportedly segregated Jewish students and called them “colonizers” three days after the Hamas attack on Israel that killed over 1200 Jews, including 30 American citizens.
The petition emphasizes Loggins’ blackness. “Dr. Loggins, who is facing the same fate of so many Black figures, is being publicly shamed and threatened online,” the petition says. An accompanying press release claims his suspension is an example of “injustice” and a lack of inclusivity.
“The way Dr. Loggins’ situation is being handled represents a grave injustice. Stanford University seems to be failing to recognize that his removal comes at the cost of many marginalized students on campus who lack a safe space, a refuge to turn to,” said student Milo Golding in the release.
Zhané Crosby, a student of Loggins, said Loggins’ suspension was an example of “white supremacy”: “Sadly, Dr. Loggins’ dismissal serves as yet another example of the rampant cognitive dissonance and underlying white supremacy that manifests itself on this campus every day. The dehumanization he has experienced is not just disheartening but deeply troubling, highlighting the urgent need for a more inclusive and equitable environment within the academic community at Stanford University.”
The petition demands that Stanford adopt diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and carry out the “immediate reinstatement” of Loggins for the remainder of the school year. In the long run, it demands:
“a permanent role for Loggins”
“an explicit promise to continue to work with students of color to hire and protect professors who come from marginalized communities”
“The employment and tenure of more Black and Muslim professors”
and a “public apology from the President and the Provost”
As of two weeks ago, the petition had already been signed by 1,700 people, according to the Stanford Daily.
University spokesperson Luisa Rapport says an investigation of Loggins, “through an outside investigator, remains ongoing.”
Loggins allegedly asked Jewish students to stand up in class, identify themselves, and relocate to a corner of the classroom. Reportedly, he asked, “How many people died in the Holocaust?” When a student answered, “six million,” he declared, “Colonizers killed more than six million. Israel is a colonizer.”
The Israel-Hamas conflict has triggered many incendiary remarks on campus.
A diversity and inclusion director at Cornell University supported the Hamas terror attack, writing that Hamas was “fighting for life, dignity, and freedom…against settler colonization, imperialism, capitalism, white supremacy, which the United States is the model.”
A Jewish student was “beaten with a stick outside the Columbia library after he confronted a woman tearing down posters of kidnapped Israelis.” He suffered a broken ring finger.
Universities that routinely speak out against microaggressions, Supreme Court decisions, Republican legislation, and things like students wearing sombreros to Halloween parties could not bring themselves to condemn either the Hamas terror attacks that killed at least 1400 people, or campus protests that explicitly praised the terror attacks. One university claimed it must remain neutral about “geopolitical issues and news events.” Such universities have often taken sides on political issues, such as climate change policy, and spoken out about news events, such as the death of George Floyd.
Northwestern University, which publicly criticized the Supreme Court for ruling against race-based college admissions, refused to “make an institutional statement” about the terror attacks by Hamas that killed relatives of some of its students.
Hamas kidnapped many civilians, including small children, seizing them as hostages. This hostage-taking came after the Biden administration agreed to pay a $6 billion ransom to Iran in exchange for the release of five American hostages. Hamas admits Iran gave it weapons it used in its attack on Israel. The Biden administration released millions of dollars to the Hamas-controlled government of the Gaza strip.
