University statement on faculty-led event held on Monday, Nov. 6
One of several educational events on campus about the Hamas-Israel war took place on Monday, Nov. 6. The faculty who organized the event invited outside speakers, including tenured faculty members from other universities, as they are allowed to do under the university’s policies on academic freedom and free expression. Students and other community members of all backgrounds had an opportunity to attend the event, engage intellectually and respectfully, and ask questions and participate in the discussion.
Other events, representing a diversity of views and scholarly perspectives, have taken place on Yale’s campus since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack, including events at the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies, Yale Law School, the Yale School of Management, and the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs. There have also been numerous gatherings to support Jewish, Israeli, Muslim, and Palestinian students, faculty, staff, and others with ties to the region.
There was strong interest in the panel held on Nov. 6, and the room reached capacity before it began. A few students were not aware that organizers had required pre-registration, and even some students who had pre-registered were unable to enter due to space constraints. As a result, a small number of people listened from the hallway; because the speakers wore microphones, the discussion was audible outside the room.
The event began with a reiteration of Yale’s freedom of expression policies and a request that no filming or photography take place. Administrators were present to ensure that the event proceeded in a way consistent with the university’s policies which allowed for it to take place without disruption. Opinions and positions from people of all backgrounds were expressed respectfully during the program.
Yale faculty will host additional scholarly events and opportunities for discussion in the future. For example, this week, the Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism will host “Antisemitism Across Borders: German and American Neo-Nazis, 1970s-1990s,” featuring Michelle Kahn, an assistant professor of modern European history at University of Richmond. Next week, Yale Law School’s human rights center will hold an event on the conflict with Cardozo School of Law Professor Gabor Rona, who is the child of Holocaust survivors in Hungary.
As President Salovey recently reaffirmed, “We are a community of many viewpoints, identities, and cultures. We do not agree with one another on everything. What we must share is a commitment to open, civil discourse and respect for one another.”
