Many CUNY Board trustees silent about 'hate speech' uproar
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The silence is deafening as the vast majority of CUNY Board of Trustees refused to weigh in Wednesday as outrage over a law school graduate's now notorious "hate-filled" commencement speech continues to mount — and the school's dean faces calls to be fired.
Just five of CUNY's 17 board members have publicly denounced law school graduate Fatima Mousa Mohammed's May 12 commencement speech calling for a "revolution" to take on the legal system's "white supremacy."
She also blasted the NYPD as "fascist" and accused Israel of indiscriminately murdering Palestinians, sparking widespread condemnation and calls for the public university to be stripped of its taxpayer funds.
Among those who have denounced are trustees chairman Bill Thompson and vice chair Sandra Wilkin, who put out a joint statement Tuesday describing Mohammed's remarks as "hate speech."
Thompson insisted on Wednesday night that the statement was written on behalf of the entire Board of Trustees — even though their signatures weren't inked on it a day earlier.
Reached by The Post earlier in the day, seven of the trustees either refused to comment or hid behind that statement. The five remaining trustees didn't respond at all.
A majority of the CUNY Board of Trustees have not commented on Fatima Mousa Mohammed's speech at the CUNY Law school graduation ceremony.Twitter/@SAFECUNYTrustees chairman Bill Thompson and vice chair Sandra Wilkin put out a joint statement calling the remarks "hate speech."
Of the trustees who did condemn Mohammed's address, all were in agreement: Guidelines must be put in place to prevent future speeches from descending into vitriolic chaos.
"A policy on graduation ceremonies needs to be created for all CUNY schools. The Board of Trustees has to address this issue going forward. We have to come up with some guidelines," Angelo Vivolo, who was appointed by ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, said.
"I know we have the First Amendment and free speech. But hate speech is unacceptable at a graduation ceremony. Free speech comes with a responsibility," he continued. "When you offend one culture or heritage, you offend all."
"As trustees we've been asked to step in — and we will," fellow trustee Una Clarke, a former Brooklyn councilwoman, said. "We will step in and make sure hate speech does not become a custom at CUNY."
Angelo Vivolo said that "hate speech is unacceptable at a graduation ceremony." Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez said that trustees are currently reviewing policies after the controversial speech.
Trustee Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez, who works for Mayor Eric Adams' administration, said trustees were currently reviewing the policies to "make sure we are respecting everyone's right."
Mohammed declined to comment on her speech when reached by The Post at a relative's home in Queens on Monday. "I do not want to speak to anybody," Mohammed said, refusing to give her own phone number and saying she did not want to be contacted again.
A CUNY source said the law school graduate had submitted a draft of her speech to the law school's higher-ups, including progressive Dean Sudha Setty, before graduation — but she "deviated" from those remarks on stage.
The Post has requested a copy of the draft presented to the school and who reviewed it before the commencement address.
Trustee Una Clarke said the board can't allow hate speech to "become a custom at CUNY."
Setty, the law school and CUNY's central administration haven't responded to repeated requests for comment.
Jewish activist Ronald Lauder, who heads the World Jewish Congress and is also an heir of makeup mogul Estee Lauder, on Wednesday called for the law school dean to be fired after she was among the faculty on stage who applauded the graduate's speech.
"As heinous as the students' remarks to her Jewish classmates and their families were, it is even more reprehensible that the Dean of CUNY Law, Sudha Setty, would echo that hate speech with applause," Lauder said.
"To that end, I am calling on the Board of Trustees to immediately fire Dean Setty without equivocation to send a message that Jew Hate will not be tolerated in New York's public universities."
Dean Sudha Setty reviewed the speech before the ceremony.CUNY School of Law
Lauder's brother, Leonard Lauder, previously made a notable $52 million donation to one of CUNY's other schools, Hunter College.
Meanwhile, former Long Island Rep. and GOP gubernatorial nominee Lee Zeldin on Wednesday accused Gov. Kathy Hochul of not forcefully condemning the graduate's speech, calling the Democrat a "disgrace for hiding in silence."
"The situation at CUNY merits her serious attention and bold action," Zeldin said in a scathing statement.
"The CUNY administration needs to be overhauled, and until Jewish students and faculty can all feel welcome again on campus, taxpayer funding must be immediately suspended.
"On brand, Hochul is demonstrating zero passion, zero outrage, and zero vision."
Hochul — who appoints members to the CUNY governing board — did address the saga later Wednesday, telling an unrelated press conference in Brooklyn that she condemns "all forms of hate speech."
"This is a place where we embrace everyone, and especially in a higher education institution, our expectations are that you will be more tolerant of other views," Hochul said.
"And that is why we have to make sure to call out the hate speech, which is exactly what happened on that stage."
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Anti-Semitism is on the rise, particularly on the left.
It got much worse under Obama.
In that second term we got to see the real Obama. I'm afraid that his understudy has outdone him.