Tolerance begins at home and is best taught by example. All else is hypocrisy.
Damage Control, Tulane Style
The years 1993 to 1995 witnessed an assault on five Jewish professors by administrators at Tulane University. Three of the professors brought lawsuits against Tulane, one settled after threatening to sue, and one withdrew into early retirement. In Bernofsky's case, Tulane's proffered reason for his termination was the lack of grant funds to support his research program. However, Bernofsky argued that his new $250,000 grant from the Air Force, which was announced 10 weeks before his termination and given front-page treatment in a Tulane publication [1], rendered Tulane's reason for his termination mere pretext, and he filed a discrimination claim against the University.
Bernofsky was denied a trial on the merits of his case through the rulings of partisan judges who, unknown to Bernofsky at the time, were teaching at Tulane as adjunct professors. Details of this pretentious form of justice are described elsewhere on this Web site. Nevertheless, publicity about the case, and in particular the allegation of anti-Semitism, spurred Tulane University to undertake measures to improve its public image while vigorously avoiding responsibility for its past actions.
Tulane has good cause for concern. According to a 1999 survey published by Hillel Foundation, about 22% of Tulane's total student enrollment is Jewish, a figure that represents 30% of the undergraduate student population [2]. In contrast, the proportion of Jewish professors is very small, although actual figures have not been made public and Hillel would not respond when contacted for this information.
In the lawsuit filed against Tulane University on January 31, 1995, Bernofsky identified the issue of discrimination as a primary cause of action. Listed below are some of the extraordinary public relations events intended to reassure the Jewish community in the wake of that allegation.
In 1996, Tulane established the Southern Institute for Education and Research, "...a non-profit race and ethnic relations center dedicated to promoting tolerance . . . [and combating] bigotry through anti-bias education..." The Institute engaged, as Holocaust Education Specialists, Dr. Lawrence N. Powell [3] and R. Plater Robinson [4], and it recruited for its Advisory Board the former Director of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, Mrs. Jane K. Buchsbaum [4].
In 1997, Tulane's Board of Administrators announced its selection of Dr. Scott S. Cowen, who appears to be Tulane University's first Jewish president [5].
In 1998, Tulane's Southern Institute sponsored a training conference on "countering prejudice" in conjunction with the newly-created (1997) Southern Catalyst Network [6,7].
In 1998, Tulane's School of Medicine elevated Mrs. Ann Israel, a Jew, to the Chair of its Board of Directors [8].
In 1999, Tulane's Southern Institute held a ceremony that honored local Holocaust survivors in the presence of prominent members of the Jewish community [9]. This followed a related, social reception that was held in the fall of 1998 [10].
In 1999, Tulane sponsored Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a Jew, to teach in Crete for a Tulane Summer Law School Program [11]. Bernofsky had submitted two petitions to the United States Supreme Court that contained allegations of administrative anti-Semitism at Tulane University. Justice Ginsburg is a member of the United States Supreme Court.
In 1999, Tulane announced that, for the first time, it will offer kosher meals at Bruff Commons, the main student dining hall [12].
Rabbi Jeffrey Kurtz-Lendner, executive director of the Hillel Center, stated: "I think it is a great investment for the University to attract [Jewish] students." [12].
In 1999, Tulane, which purchases advertising from Yahoo!, persuaded the Internet directory provider to alter the description of the present Web site by deleting the word "Jewish" from the owner's registered description: "Jewish professor challenges wrongful termination at Tulane University." It may be significant that David Filo, a co-founder of Yahoo! and graduate of Tulane, is a member of the Board of Advisors of Tulane University's School of Engineering [13].
In 2000, Tulane sponsored a three-day conference in cooperation with the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience to examine the "Jewish experience in the Southern Americas," in which local faculty and invited speakers lectured on Jewish life in the "Old South" and Latin America [14].
In 2001, Tulane President Scott S. Cowen created a Special Task Force on Diversity, stating: "We must cultivate an environment of diversity, openness and inclusiveness to attract excellent people to Tulane..." [15].
In 2001, the Anti-Defamation League conferred an A.I. Botnick Torch of Liberty Award to Tulane University President Scott S. Cowen for his "...commitment to freedom and opportunity, as well as fervent opposition to bigotry in any of its many forms." [16] Following this, Tulane hosted a benefit concert in Dixon Hall for the New Orleans Jewish Day School [17].
What is remarkable about these events is their proximity to Bernofsky's claims of discrimination in legal proceedings and their public relations focus on the Jewish community. Tulane's sudden display of interest in combating anti-Semitism appears to be an attempt to conceal bigoted core values held over from a bygone era. It may be viewed as a disingenuous and financially-motivated effort to reassure the burgeoning population of Jewish students at Tulane and to prevent the alienation of Jewish philanthropists who traditionally give generously to institutions of higher learning, and to Tulane in particular.
Tulane apparently believes that present "good deeds" will immunize it against responsibility for past offenses. However,
such "damage control" is only an attempt to conceal, through embroidery, the underlying fabric of bigotry that has characterized the University's administration. No public relations campaign can paper over the discrimination and abuse visited by Tulane on so many of its Jewish professors, nor is there a statute of limitations that will grant Tulane the reprieve it seeks from its own history of systemic intolerance.
Readers who are familiar with ways that institutions respond to public exposure of unethical and immoral practices will not be surprised to learn that Tulane has now created "...a place where faculty, students, visiting scholars, and public figures can broadly examine critical issues of right and wrong, justice and injustice, citizenship and community, the ethical management of organizations, and the ethics of the professions." That place, whose apparent function is to mask Tulane's culpability, is The Center for Ethics and Public Affairs [18].
Since this Web site went on line in 1998, Tulane administrators have catered to the Jewish community wih special programs and appointments, and by 2012 a remarkable 32% of its student body were Jews, ranking Tulane No. 1 in this category among secular universities with more that 5,000 students [19].
References
"School Profiles," taken March, 1999 from the Hillel Web site, www.hillel.org.
The Times Picayune, April 20, 1998, p. B-1.
"The Southern Institute for Education and Research," taken April, 1998 from the
Tulane Web site, www.tulane.edu.
Littice Bacon-Blood, "Tulane: School picks 14th president," The Times Picayune, New Orleans, Dec. 5, 1997, p. A-1.
The Times Picayune, Oct. 23, 1998, p. B-8.
Gambit Weekly, Oct. 27, 1998, p. 13.
"Online Posting," Office of Public Relations, Tulane University Medical Center,
June 10, 1998, from the Tulane Web site, www.tmc.tulane.edu.
The Times Picayune, Oct. 8, 1999, p. E-2.
The Times Picayune, Sept. 23, 1998, p. E-1.
The Times Picayune, Sept. 18, 1999, p. A-17.
The Tulane Hullabaloo, Vol. 90, No. 6, Oct. 8, 1999.
"Tulane University School of Engineering, Board of Advisors," http://www.eng.tulane.edu/pdf/boardofadvisors.pdf, accessed Sept. 25, 2003.
Ana Gershanik, "Tulane looks at Jews in Southern Americas," The Times Picayune, New Orleans, Apr. 6, 2000, p. 4A-1.
Lauren DeFrank, "Diversity study highlights racial disparities at Tulane," Tulane Hullabaloo, Vol. 94, No. 4, Sept. 19, 2003.
"Awards go to 3 for roles in battle against bigotry," The Times Picayune, New Orleans, Nov. 25, 2001, p. B-3.
Nell Nolan, "Giving their all for education," The Times Picayune, New Orleans, Dec. 10, 2001, p. C-2.
The Center for Ethics and Public Affairs, http://www.tulane.edu/~murphy/Center%20Introduction.htm, accessed Sept. 26, 2002.
Bruce Nolan, "Tulane to upgrade its Jewish studies program; Faculty to be added to department," The Times Picayune, New Orleans, March 31, 2012, p. C-6.
