Howard University Fights Perception That It is a Hotbed of Anti-semitism

America’s foremost black university is fighting perceptions that it is a hotbed of anti-Semitism, following the second appearance there in two months of controversial Nation of Islam member Khalid Abdul Muhammad.

While some news reports have cast Howard University’s student body as largely sympathetic to the racist and anti-Semitic views espoused by the militant black Muslim group, many students, faculty and administrators claim that the school is under siege by a hostile media.

They claim news reports have exaggerated the prevalence of the views held by Unity Nation, the Howard student group which sponsored the Feb. 23 and April 17 rallies at which Muhammad appeared.

And on a campus that had been known more for its students’ ardent preprofessionalism than for radical political involvement, many — including outgoing President Franklyn Jenifer — alleged that the media has honed in on Howard because most of its 12,000 students are black.

“You begin to wonder,” said Jenifer, “why, of all places that (Muhammad) has gone, why is it that the press has focused in on Howard University?”

But Muhammad’s appearances have not been the only cause of controversy at the campus in recent months.

In early April, a scheduled lecture by Yale University historian David Brion Davis was postponed by a faculty member because of concerns that Davis, a specialist in the history of slavery, would be heckled because he is Jewish.

And President Jenifer — who holds two degrees from Howard – resigned three days after Muhammad’s April rally, amid speculation that the school’s board of directors had begun talks on whether to oust him.

MANY SEEM READY TO ACCEPT GROUP’S VIEWS

Conversations with Howard students revealed that while most categorically reject the Nation of Islam, many seemed willing to accept, or at least entertain, some of the group’s radical views.

Howard, a 127-year-old institution that counts the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thur-good Marshall, former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young and Nobel laureate Toni Morrison among its alumni, may have more than its formidable reputation at stake.

Jenifer said he got hundreds of letters from Jews who said they were angry over perceived anti-Semitism at the school. Some threatened to withdraw corporate or personal financial support.

Howard’s African American studies department reportedly received several anonymous phone calls from people who said they would ask their congressmen to stop federal aid to the school.

Though technically a private university, Howard depends heavily on government funding. In 1993, it received $183 million in federal appropriations, more than a third of its yearly operating budget.

Jewish leaders in Washington have criticized Howard officials for not moving quickly enough to distance the university from Unity Nation and the Nation of Islam following Muhammad’s Feb. 23 appearance on campus. After his speech, a student led an estimated 1,000 people — some of them Howard students — in anti-Semitic chants.

“Had the university responded directly, forcefully, unequivocally and instantaneously, they would have been able to separate this event that took place on the Howard campus from an event that reflects the university’s position on these matters,” said David Friedman, Washington regional director of the Anti-Defamation League.

“But because they waited, the perception was that they didn’t care or they tacitly agreed,” Friedman said.

University officials did not publicly comment on that rally until one week after the event.

Attempting to reverse the negative publicity, a group of Howard faculty and administrators held a news conference prior to the April rally, in which they claimed that only a small fraction of Howard students were sympathetic to the Nation of Islam’s views.

Of the estimated 2,000 people who later attended the event in Howard’s Cramton Auditorium, only a smattering were Howard students. Most in the audience were working-class blacks from the Washington area.

At the rally, a series of speakers — including Muhammad, City College Professor Leonard Jeffries and Wellesley College Professor Tony Martin — charged that Jews bore primary responsibility for the African slave trade, and that they control large segments of American industry.

OFFICIALS BLAME MEDIA IMAGINATION

Howard officials continue to insist that perceived anti-Semitism is a product of the media’s imagination.

They claim that prior to the publicizing of statements made by Muhammad at Kean College in November, Muhammad had spoken at Howard several times — with little or no fanfare and less than 50 students in attendance.

They say that, far from being sympathetic, many students attend Nation of Islam events out of curiosity, after being bombarded by extensive media coverage.

Nevertheless, university officials have taken steps to prevent further appearances of the Nation of Islam on campus.

Officials had insisted they were obligated under the First Amendment to allow Unity Nation to rent the school’s facilities. But in a statement accompanying the announcement of Jenifer’s resignation, Wayman Smith, the school’s chairman, pledged the university will be “more assertive and aggressive in speaking out against those who promote racial and religious bigotry and ignorance.”

Smith said that a commitment to free speech “does not mean that the university is required to open its doors to those who would destroy or violate the moral and intellectual integrity of the institution and what it stands for.” He added that the board had established an ad hoc committee to review guidelines for the use of school facilities.

At the news conference held before the April rally, Jenifer insisted that talking with Howard students would clear up any confusion.

“All they need to do, if they want to know how Howard people feel, is come to dear old Howard,” Jenifer said.