March 18, 2025
Dear Members of Our Campus Community,
Our UC Santa Barbara Principles of Community state: “We do not tolerate acts of bigotry, harassment, or other harm to individuals by anyone in our community on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, sex, gender, age, physical or mental ability, size, language, religious beliefs, political affiliation, gender identity, service in the uniformed services, citizenship, pregnancy, medical condition, genetic information, ancestry, marital status, or national origin among other personal characteristics.” The UC Regents Statement of Principles Against Intolerance (Regents Policy 4403) states: “Acts of hatred and other intolerant conduct, as well as acts of discrimination that demean our differences, are antithetical to the values of the University and serve to undermine its purpose.” It calls on “University leaders actively to challenge anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination when and wherever they emerge within the University community.”
Members of our community have expressed a deep concern about antisemitism on campus. Their sentiments and experiences resonate in the larger contexts of a long and threatening history of antisemitism and a recent increase in antisemitism on some college campuses and in national and international politics. Like all forms of hatred—including Islamophobia, racism against Palestinian, Arab, Black, Hispanic, and Asian peoples, homophobia, transphobia, and misogyny—antisemitism has no place in our community. These forms of hatred damage our community and undermine our values. An institution of higher learning dedicated to teaching, research, and public service depends on a civic culture in which all members of our community can live and work without fear of prejudice, discrimination, or intimidation.
As part of a broad initiative to improve our campus climate, understand differences, and strengthen the bonds of our community, we are creating a Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Antisemitism. This committee will offer guidance and recommendations about how to ensure that there is a safe and inclusive environment on campus for Jewish- and Israeli-identifying students, faculty, staff, alumni, and visitors, and help us to understand experiences of anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli hostility. It will make recommendations about educational and training efforts to prevent antisemitism, drawing upon best practices and rigorous research and pedagogy. It will advise how we can foster a respectful, empathetic, and pluralistic dialogue that will model civil discourse even where we disagree, consistent with policies and principles that protect academic freedom in teaching and research and First Amendment rights. In consultation with relevant offices and other groups addressing climate issues, the committee will review and make recommendations about campus codes of conduct and “time, place, and manner” policies, and suggest ways to improve the reporting and transparency of disciplinary processes. In addition, the committee will review ways to support Jewish life on campus. The committee will include faculty, staff, students, and alumni, and will consult with relevant community members and organizations.
The purpose of this and other similar groups that will be convened is not to divide us further but to help us come together across differences to understand each other better. Rejecting those who would divide us, we aim to understand and address the experiences of our faculty, staff, and students in order to strengthen our community and our common cause, and ensure that UC Santa Barbara has a supportive and productive environment for everyone who studies, teaches, and works here, regardless of their views or beliefs. We embrace the mandate of the University of California to be an inclusive public university, offering the highest quality education and research in a state that reflects the diverse and global society in which we all live.
The Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Antisemitism will be appointed soon after we complete consultations about membership, and we will continue to consult and communicate about other parts of this initiative to improve campus climate.
Sincerely,
Henry T. Yang
Chancellor
David Marshall
Executive Vice Chancellor
Complaints and concerns about discrimination and antisemitism can be reported through our Title IX Compliance and Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Office.