A communist group at UB called in an open letter for the university to investigate and expel “white nationalist and Zionist” students and staff.
The unsigned letter, released by the Communist Student League on Oct. 11 in protest of UB President Satish Tripathi’s State of the University address, contains a list of 15 demands. Fourth on the list is an “open investigation, through the office of student conduct, into all white nationalist and activities in support of the Zionist occupation on campus, with students and staff involved in white nationalist and Zionist organizations and activism to be expelled from campus.”
The letter’s other demands range from subsidized on-campus dining to improved building accessibility to legal aid for international students. It also calls for the university to expel “all military, police, and border patrol recruiters.”
But the letter largely focuses on UB’s handling of pro-Palestine protests last year: It calls for the university to apologize for its treatment of demonstrators during the tumultuous May 1 protest, to provide free healthcare to Palestinian-diaspora students and staff and their families, and to boycott Israel and “any firms supporting the occupation and genocide in Palestine.”
The Communist Student League, which was last year called the Marxist Youth League, is not officially recognized by any student government or university body, and its leaders’ names are not public.
In an Oct. 12 email to The Spectrum, two Communist Student League representatives using apparent pseudonyms wrote that the demand for investigation and expulsion targets UB’s chapters of the right-wing groups Turning Point USA (TPUSA) and Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), and of Students Supporting Israel (SSI), an unrecognized pro-Israel organization that formed in February.
Young Americans for Freedom, a conservative club at UB, promotes Michael Knowles' 2023 speech on campus.
The Communist Student League representatives wrote in the email that those groups “have coordinated and counter-protested against the Palestine solidarity movement here in Buffalo, and openly defend the Zionist terrorist states [sic] ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.”
TPUSA and SSI did not respond to requests for comment.
Meanwhile, Buffalo SUNY BDS, an unrecognized group formerly known as SUNY UB BDS that has been heavily involved in organizing pro-Palestine protests, told The Spectrum in an emailed statement Tuesday that it backs the call for expulsion.
“In order for UB to uphold their commitment to student safety and inclusivity, they must investigate and deplatform Zionist and white nationalist groups and individuals by any means necessary,” the statement reads. “If that includes suspensions and/or expulsions from campus, so be it.”
Communist Student League representatives say that if UB does not respond to the group’s demands by Oct. 24, it is “prepared for a significant escalation in tactics.”
A university spokesperson ignored repeated requests for comment.
Editor's note, Monday, Oct. 28: On Oct. 24, after this article was published, YAF president Jacob Cassidy provided The Spectrum with a statement saying that YAF commits to supporting the State of Israel and "do not support white nationalism" having "no ties to that movement whatsoever."
“Our condemnation of white nationalism flows from the same principle as our condemnation of antisemitism and every other form of racism: we affirm the dignity and value of all human beings,” the statement reads.
Mylien Lai contributed to the reporting of this article.
Ricardo Castillo is the editor-in-chief and can be reached at ricardo.castillo@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Ryan Hagen | UB Athletics
