APRIL 11 • 2024 | 21
J
N
continued on page 22
pus administration buildings.
This past January, the University of
Michigan honored Hamamy and SAFE
with the 2024 Spirit of MLK Jr. Award for
“exemplifying Dr. King’s leadership and
extraordinary vision.
”
Then came the university’s 101st
Honors Convocation on Sunday, March
24.
Lisa Barron Momblanco of Huntington
Woods had her purse searched as she
went through security and entered Hill
Auditorium with her husband to attend
the event. The couple’s daughter, a senior,
was one of the student honorees.
Momblanco sat in the balcony’s fifth
row, where she had a view of the stage
and some of the main floor seats toward
the front.
Seated in front of Momblanco were
two “jittery” young women clad in keffi-
yehs. The women were texting and post-
ing on social media the entire ceremony.
Momblanco said at their feet was a large
roll of canvas. There were several other
women in headscarves seated in the
balcony section, including the front row
with rolled-up banners.
Ten minutes before U-M President
Santa Ono was about to speak, Momblanco
said one of the keffiyeh-clad young women
left. When she came back, she smiled at her
seated friend and signaled a thumbs-up.
When Ono took the stage, Momblanco
said the screaming and shouting began.
“
At that point, someone behind me yelled
‘Death to Jews,
’” Momblanco recalled. “That
is when some girls and parents near me
began to cry and leave. My husband and
I left in fear and headed downstairs to try
to find my daughter. We both began to cry
when we saw each other and left the audito-
rium. That was the first time I saw security
or police, and they were all outside. There
were also other protesters filming us on the
front steps.
”
Students and parents fear that this is just
a warmup for commencement ceremonies.
There is chatter on Jewish parent Facebook
and WhatsApp groups that stronger mea-
sures need to be taken or else they may con-
sider not attending graduation events.
Many are hoping Ono’s administration
can dial things back down by establishing
new ramped-up anti-disruption policies in
time for graduation.
U-M PRESIDENT RESPONDS
In a campus community announcement,
Ono on March 27 stated that while he
recognizes the importance of maintaining
the campus as a bastion of free speech
and expression, at the same time, the
administration is surveying the community
as it unveils its proposed Disruptive Activity
Policy.
Ono stated: “No one has the right to
infringe on the exercise of others’ speech
and activities by disrupting the normal
celebrations, activities and operations of the
university.
”
Ono continued: “Under the draft
Disruptive Activity Policy, students accused
of a violation would receive written notice
and, after an opportunity to meet with a
U-M official, may accept responsibility
and an assigned sanction, or choose
to participate in a hearing. Sanctions
would include a formal reprimand up to
and including suspension or expulsion,
according to the draft policy.
”
It is not clear when the policy will be
finalized or enacted.
BEYOND FREE SPEECH
Rabbi Asher Lopatin, media relations
director for the Jewish Federation of
Greater Ann Arbor, was also at the
Convocation to see two of his daughters
being honored. One is a senior who
could be spotted on the
stage dais wearing a “Chai”
in the ceremony recording.
His younger daughter, a
freshman, was seated below
on the main level. When the
protesters hijacked the cere-
mony, he filmed the occur-
rences from the balcony
where he sat and posted it on Instagram.
Anguished, he said by Ono stepping
away from the podium without delivering
his speech, he allowed for the ceremony
to be shut down, and let the protesters
have a victory with their intimidating
tactics.
A staunch proponent of First
Amendment rights, Lopatin said protest-
ers may do so all they want in outdoor
spaces. But squelching an awards cere-
mony and denying students and families
the joy of celebrating their academic achieve-
ments went too far. Testifying later that week
in the public comment section before the
Board of Regents, Lopatin said disruption of
“sacred spaces” such as an honors or gradua-
tion ceremony is a desecration of decency.
“The University of Michigan is a stellar
place,
” Lopatin said. “It is a place that has
allowed for an abundance of free speech. But
the administration needs to stand up and
show some strength.
”
Lopatin said for his family and many Jews
in the U-M community, the feeling of intim-
idation is constant and palpable.
“There are two issues at play,
” Lopatin
maintained. “One is that Jews are feeling
unsafe. If a student leader of an organization
would have wished death and more to any
other group on campus, it would not be
tolerated. Secondly, it is about decency. The
university is supposed to set the gold stan-
dard. It is a matter of enforcing decency and
teaching students about civil discourse. That
requires a bit of strength and a backbone;
and if they are not teaching them that, they
are shirking their responsibility.
”
Lopatin hopes that Ono’s administration
Rabbi
Asher
Lopatin
Salma Hamamy wishes death to
supporters of Israel on social media.