The university is withholding details of the incident until it concludes an internal investigation.
By Dion J. Pierre, The Algemeiner
A Tufts University club sports team was suspended over an antisemitic incident, President Tony Monaco confirmed on Friday.
The university is withholding details of the incident until it concludes an internal investigation, a Tufts University spokesperson told The Algemeiner. In the interim, the university has suspended the team’s activities.
The incident involved members of a club sports team during a recent visit to another university in New England, university officials said. The name of the university was not given.
“The alleged conduct is appalling and goes against our values as an institution, and those values do not end at the borders of our campus,” President Monaco continued in Friday’s statement. “I want to express my solidarity with our Jewish students, faculty, staff, and alumni for whom this will hit especially hard given that the alleged incident occurred during the Jewish High Holidays. And I want to state in no uncertain terms that antisemitism is not tolerated — and will not be tolerated — at Tufts University.”
Monaco also noted that Tufts University has undertaken “a concerted effort” to fight antisemitism on campus.
Last December, the university, working with Hillel International and a private consultancy firm, formed an ad hoc committee to study antisemitism on campus. The committee recommended new training on antisemitism for students, faculty, and staff, and that university orientation for freshmen include feature programs on antisemitic bias.
Tufts has also joined the 2021-2022 Hillel International Campus Climate Initiative (CCI) cohort, a program that helps universities better understand, recognize, and fight antisemitism.
“This incident, if true, shows that as much as we have done, there is still much more to do,” Monaco said. “We strive to create a community in which all members can express their beliefs and identities free from fear or intimidation. Each of us has a responsibility to take active measures to ensure that we build this community. It doesn’t happen automatically. It takes hard work and deliberate actions. Today we must recommit ourselves to this effort.”