Anti-Semitic Oberlin Prof Suspended From Teaching

Oberlin Prof: Joy Karega teaches rhetoric at Oberlin, which is based in the King building. Image by facebook and wikimedia commons

By Julie Wiener August 4, 2016

— An Oberlin professor whose anti-Semitic social media posts outraged many alumni and faculty earlier this year has been placed on paid leave.

Joy Karega, an assistant professor of rhetoric, will not teach any courses at the Ohio liberal arts school until an internal investigation is completed, Oberlin President Marvin Krislov announced, the Cleveland Jewish News reported Wednesday.

Krislov’s announcement came two days after The Algemeiner, a Jewish news site, published an article noting that the administration had been quiet on the issue for several months. The article also noted that Oberlin Alums for Campus Fairness — part of a national network focused on fighting anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias on campus — had sent a letter to the school’s board of trustees chair asking for an update on the Karega investigation and had not yet received a response.

In March, the board of trustees asked the college to launch an internal investigation into Karega.

Karega’s posts, including one accusing Israel and “Rothschild-led bankers” of responsibility for downing a Malaysian airliner over Ukraine in 2014 and another suggesting that Israel was behind the attack on the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris, drew widespread attention after The Tower published an article about them in February.

That article came on the heels of a letter from Oberlin alumni expressing concern about the tolerance of anti-Semitism on campus, particularly within the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

Karega has not apologized for her posts. Before the board of trustees called for an investigation, Krislov’s statements about Karega emphasized the professor’s right to free speech while clarifying that her views are not shared by the administration. Neither statement condemned the professor outright nor suggested her job might be affected.

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