SEATTLE — He normally watches the upper atmosphere, but on Monday, UW Professor Cliff Mass was fully focused on the campus climate.
“I think with all the public universities in the United States, I think the fifth worst is just nothing to brag about,” argued the long-time professor, who was cited by the Anti-Defamation League’s recent scorecard on antisemitism. The ADL gave the UW a “D,” citing several dates in recent history, including the pro-Gaza occupation of the campus Quad last year, and vandalism at the home of the UW President.
Last week, violent demonstrators took over the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building, or IEB. There was more damage over the weekend, with windows smashed and the building tagged, according to the UW.
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“We’ve had lawlessness, violence, antisemitism that has spread around this campus, and we’ve had an administration that’s been unwilling to deal with it,” said Mass, who is calling for the UW to ban masks at public demonstrations that have been used to conceal identities and expel students found to be participating in violent behavior. California schools have banned outdoor masking for that very reason.
So far, the UW has suspended 21 students for their alleged role in last Monday’s occupation and banned them from campus.
No one has yet been charged with a crime, according to the King County Prosecutor’s Office.
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The simple answer is the cases haven’t been sent to us yet,” said Casey McNerthney, spokesperson for the KCPAO. “It’s not that prosecutors have the cases and are declining them, or even not making decisions on them. They’re still with police investigators. “They’re trying to build the strongest possible cases. What you don’t want to have is a rushed case that’s weak that is then thrown out of court.
Mass suggested that the UW only suspended the students because of mounting pressure from the federal government and the potential for cuts to the UW’s grants and contracts. He believes the UW’s leadership should send a harsher message.
“I think it’s very straightforward. You do not allow violent speech. When you cross over the line and call for a physical attack against other people, you do not do it. You do not tolerate defacing the campus and all the damage,” he continues. “They’re expelled, suspended. If they just started doing that, I think it would stop very quickly. But some people have done these crimes and have had no impact on their lives. Doesn’t work that way.”
