VICE-CHANCELLOR of the University of Sydney Dr Michael Spence has asserted that anti-Semitic behaviour is not acceptable on campus, and insisted the university wants to take a strong stand against it.
Speaking exclusively to The AJN, following a series of incidents in recent years that have left Jewish students feeling uneasy, Spence said university should be a place where “everybody is safe and free to discuss ideas”, and where students have confidence people will “engage in debate about their ideas, but not in behaviour that’s denigrating of them personally”.
“One is always going to have people who engage in hateful behaviour of one kind or another. What I want to do is empower the great body of students and staff to know how to deal with and fight against that.”
The university is investing significantly in the creation of a national centre for cultural competence and increasing the cultural competence of its staff and students. Cultural competence programs for staff have already started, and Spence said the feedback from that is “extremely positive”.
Read the full story by Evan Zlatkis in the Australian Jewish News