{"id":2246034,"date":"2024-05-16T13:59:03","date_gmt":"2024-05-16T17:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/university-president-placed-on-leave-after-agreeing-to-anti-israel-protest-demands-including-academic-boycott-of-israel\/"},"modified":"2024-05-16T14:01:25","modified_gmt":"2024-05-16T18:01:25","slug":"university-president-placed-on-leave-after-agreeing-to-anti-israel-protest-demands-including-academic-boycott-of-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/university-president-placed-on-leave-after-agreeing-to-anti-israel-protest-demands-including-academic-boycott-of-israel\/","title":{"rendered":"University President Suspended for Supporting Anti-Israel Protests, Including Academic Boycott"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Funiversity-president-placed-on-leave-after-agreeing-to-anti-israel-protest-demands-including-academic-boycott-of-israel%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2246034&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The\u2062 president of Sonoma State University, Ming-Tung \u201cMike\u201d Lee, has been placed on leave \u200bfor \u200baligning with anti-Israel\u200d protesters on an &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/michigan-student-government-uses-hamas-attacks-to-push-anti-israel-bds-movement\/\" title=\"Michigan Student Government Uses Hamas Attacks to Push Anti-Israel BDS Movement\">academic boycott<\/a>.&#8221; The agreement also\u2064 includes disclosing vendor \u200dcontracts, seeking divestment strategies, and creating an\u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-president-trump-gives-pardons-to-73-individuals-and-commutes-another-70-sentences-steve-bannon-is-included\/\" title=\"BREAKING: President Trump Gives Pardons to 73 Individuals and Commutes Another 70 Sentences \u2013 Steve Bannon Is Included\">advisory council<\/a> for Students for Justice in Palestine. California \u2064State University Chancellor Garcia denounced the\u200b agreement as lacking proper approvals.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p>The president of Sonoma State University (SSU) in California has been placed on leave after sending an email on Tuesday announcing an agreement with anti-Israel protesters.<\/p>\n<p>SSU President Ming-Tung \u201cMike\u201d Lee announced that the agreement with students who had set up camp on the school\u2019s Person Lawn to protest Israel would include an \u201cacademic boycott\u201d of Israel, The Press Democrat <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pressdemocrat.com\/article\/news\/mike-lee-sonoma-state-protestors\/\">reported<\/a>. The boycott would mean that SSU would not pursue or engage with any study abroad programs with Israeli state institutions, KCRA <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kcra.com\/article\/sonoma-state-president-on-leave-after-agreement-protesters\/60807084\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This was part of four \u201cpoints of agreement\u201d Lee agreed to with the protesters to get them to remove their camp.<\/p>\n<p>Also part of the agreement was a promise to disclose <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/no-spike-in-florida-coronavirus-cases-despite-no-mask-mandate\/\" title=\"No Spike in Florida Coronavirus Cases Despite No Mask Mandate\">university<\/a> vendor contracts and seek \u201cdivestment strategies,\u201d the outlet reported. Lee also said the university would create an advisory council of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). Last week, survivors of the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel sued SJP and other anti-Israel groups, claiming the group had links to the terrorist organization Hamas, the Intercept <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2024\/05\/10\/october-7-survivors-lawsuit-palestine-hamas-sjp-protests\/\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, one day after Lee sent his email, California State University Chancellor Mildred Garcia issued <a href=\"https:\/\/www.calstate.edu\/csu-system\/news\/Pages\/chancellor-statement-sonoma-state-may-2024.aspx\">a statement<\/a> denouncing the agreement and saying the email had been sent \u201cwithout the appropriate approvals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Board\u2019s leadership and I are actively reviewing the matter and will provide additional details in the near future. For now, because of this insubordination and consequences it has brought upon the system, President Lee has been placed on administrative l\u200beave,\u201d Garcia wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to acknowledge how deeply concerned I am about the impact the statement has had on the Sonoma State community, and how challenging and painful it will be\u200b for many of our students and community members to see and read. The heart and mission of the CSU is to create an inclusive and welcoming place for everyone we serve\u200b, not to marginalize one community over another,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p>Lee sent another email late Wednesday announcing his leave and acknowledging the agreement was a mistake.<\/p>\n<p><b><a href=\"https:\/\/onelink.to\/dwapp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" aria-describedby=\"sk-tooltip-9096\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/onelink.to\/dwapp&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1715949071524000&#038;usg=AOvVaw1epNxV4INiQhMMvO61rHiP\">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy goal when meeting with students at the encampment was to explore opportunities to make meaningful change, identify common ground and create a safe and inclusive campus for all. I now realize that many of the statements I made in my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dueling-protests-divide-us-college-campuses-as-israel-hamas-war-rages-on\/\" title=\"US college campuses are divided by dueling protests amid ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.\">campus-wide message<\/a> did just the opposite,\u201d he said, according to the Press Democrat. \u201cIn my attempt to find agreement with one group of students, I marginalized other members of our student population and community. I realize the harm that this has caused, and I take full ownership of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stephen Bittner, chair of SSU\u2019s history department and director of its Center for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide,\u200b told the Press Democrat that he was \u201ccompletely blindsided\u201d by the provisions in the agreement Lee made with the protesters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe academic boycott of Israel is atrocious and morally reprehensible, in my view,\u201d he told the outlet before Lee was placed on leave. \u201cIt is contrary to the values of scholarly freedom, and free exchange, that are supposed to be at the center of any university.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sonoma State University&#8217;s President Ming-Tung \u201cMike\u201d Lee has been placed on leave for supporting anti-Israel protesters. The agreement, announced through an email, involved a student camp protest on the Person Lawn. This accord also entails an &#8220;academic boycott.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":2246035,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/05\/GettyImages-2152603068-scaled.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2246034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/05\/GettyImages-2152603068-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2246034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/126"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2246034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2246034\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2246035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2246034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2246034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2246034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}