A University of Minnesota law school professor is slamming some of his colleagues who are using state-funded faculty web pages to justify what many feel are the terrorist actions of Hamas.
Richard Painter told WCCO's Adam and Jordana that those web pages must be taken down.
"I would hate to see any students treated this way, Muslim students, any of our students," says Painter. "You do not have that right as faculty members to force our opinions, in that matter, on the University community."
Painter and and former University of Minnesota Regent Michael Hsu are calling for a federal investigation into claims of antisemetism at the school. They made the request in a letter sent to the U.S. Department of Education.
Painter says his efforts are not an attack on free speech rights, pointing out that the Constitutions protects that for all individuals who take a personal stand on any issue.
"To use the platform provided to us by the University of Minnesota, by the taxpayers of Minnesota, for teaching, to use that platform to intimidate students who don't agree with us, I believe that goes well beyond what is permissable," Painter says.
In a statement, University administrators say acts of intimidation on faculty, students, of staff are not acceptable and will not be tolerated.
Just last week, the presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said Tuesday that they were taking steps to combat antisemitism on campus since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, including increasing security and providing additional counseling and mental health support.
In testimony before a House committee, the university leaders said there was a fine line between protecting free speech and allowing protests, while also combatting antisemitism.
In recent weeks, the federal government has opened investigations into several universities — including Penn and Harvard — regarding antisemitism and Islamophobia on campus. The Education Department also has sent letters to schools reminding them of their legal duty to stop harassment that interferes with student learning.