New York – Brooklyn College says allegations that it discriminated against Jewish faculty are entirely without merit.
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The school responded Tuesday to claims that its provost, William Tramontano (tram-ahn-THAN’-oh), has denied Orthodox professors promotions and blocked the hiring of Jewish women.
Assemblyman Dov Hikind (HY’-kihnd) called for an independent investigation.
But college spokesman Jeremy Thompson said the allegations are based on erroneous information. He said each hiring and promotion decision was made individually, “for rational and appropriate reasons.”
He also said there was no merit to suggestions that an anti-Semitic atmosphere existed at the school.
Tramontano has been provost since 2008.
Thompson said its diverse faculty and student body includes 1,400 full and part-time professors and 17,000 students.
All colleges (aside from Touro and YU) are anti-semetic.
Brooklyn College is right. They are trying to have higher standards. Tenure and Promotion does not go to the best around. It goes to people who deserve it. If they do not deserve it, they do not get promoted. I wonder if they ever heard of the story of the boy who cried wolf.
Despite the denials, there is a pattern of anti-semetic behavior that the Provost needs to be accountable for…not to diminish the anti-semetic issue but according to some Brooklyn College insiders he is homophobic and sexist as well.
I have been a student at Brooklyn College for one year now. 5 out of my 8 professors have been Jewish, 3 of them Orthodox. 4 out of the 5 were women. There are also plenty of other Jewish Professors at Brooklyn College so I am not sure where these allegations are coming from.
The only real problem I have seen with Jewish professors is that they tend to be harder on Jewish students and sometimes even discriminate against them in order to not show favoritism. Now that is unfair and needs to stop immediately.
Although there are more than a few adjunct professors who are Jewish, very few are tenured, and the best of them are often passed over in favor of keeping a diverse group at the top. Often, inferior professors are promoted when there are a very strong group of Orthodox candidates in the running. So many departments have what appears to be ‘racial filler’, namely, very poor professors who seem to be there only because of their ancestry. The climate is not overtly antisemitic, but if they chose the best professors from the ranks of adjuncts, it would be much more orthodox and far more Jewish than it is. Race is not ignored.