July 14, 2025
Dear Members of Our Campus Community,
During Spring Quarter, we announced plans to create two important advisory committees: a Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Antisemitism and a Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Islamophobia and Anti-Palestinian Bias. After extensive consultations with our Academic Senate, academic deans, faculty, staff, and administrative colleagues, students, and community members, we are pleased to announce the formation of these committees. The specific charges to these committees can be found here and here.
As we explained in our previous messages to our campus community, the creation of these committees is part of a broad initiative to improve our campus climate, understand differences, and strengthen the bonds of our community. We take the experiences of our community members seriously, and we recognize the need to listen to and address their concerns. 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.
The advisory committees will offer guidance and recommendations about how to ensure that we have a safe and inclusive environment on campus. They will make recommendations about educational and training efforts, drawing upon best practices and rigorous research and pedagogy. They 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.
We extend our sincere thanks to Professors Adina Roskies and Kyle Ratner for graciously agreeing to co-chair the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Antisemitism, and to Professor Bishnu Ghosh for agreeing to chair the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Islamophobia and Anti-Palestinian Bias. We thank all of the committee members, and the faculty, staff, and students with whom they will consult and collaborate, for their commitment to help our campus with this critical effort.
Sincerely,
Henry T. Yang
Chancellor
David Marshall
Executive Vice Chancellor
Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Antisemitism
Adina Roskies, Co-Chair; Professor, Philosophy
Kyle Ratner, Co-Chair; Associate Professor, Psychological and Brain Sciences
Aaron Ettenberg, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Psychological and Brain Sciences
Sam Feinstein, Graduate student representative
Richard Hecht, Professor Emeritus, Religious Studies
Dana Kornberg, Assistant Professor, Sociology
Josh Levine, Edgar M. Bronfman Executive Director, Santa Barbara Hillel
Philip Lubin, Professor, Physics
Richard Mayer, Distinguished Professor, Psychological and Brain Sciences
Rebecca Metzger, Associate University Librarian for Learning & Engagement
Joel Raznick, UC Santa Barbara alumnus; Regent Emeritus; UC Santa Barbara Foundation Trustee; President, Alumni Associations of the University of California
Jeffrey Stewart, Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Evan Sussman, Undergraduate student representative
Steffanie Tinsley, Psychologist, Counseling and Psychological Services
Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Islamophobia and Anti-Palestinian Bias
Bishnu Ghosh, Chair; Professor, English and Global Studies
Walid Afifi, Professor, Communication; Associate Dean, Division of Social Science
Bassam Bamieh, Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Kathleen Moore, Professor, Religious Studies; Associate Dean of Humanities of Fine Arts
David Pellow, Dehlsen Professor, Environmental Studies
Dwight Reynolds, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Religious Studies
Sherene Seikaly, Associate Professor, History; Director, Center for Middle East Studies
Laura Snell, Ph.D. candidate, Religious Studies; Graduate student representative
Jeffrey Stewart, Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Undergraduate student representative TBD
Staff and Community Members TBD