Students at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., have rejected the student activities budget for 1984-85 that would have provided $2,000 to be used for a campus appearance, perhaps in April, of controversial Black Muslim leader Louis Farrakhan, head of the Chicago-based Nation of Islam.
By rejecting the student budget, estimated at more than $200,000, the student body succeeded in freezing funding allocations for all the 84 student groups. The Student Budget Committee is preparing to meet this evening, with a meeting scheduled afterwards of the Wesleyan Student Assembly, in an effort to iron out the difficulties presented by the referendum’s outcome.
There are 2,600 full-time undergraduate and graduate students at Wesleyan University. Out of the 1,087 students that cast ballots on Monday and Tuesday, 616 rejected the referendum while 471 accepted it. It was worded as follows: “We vote to accept/reject the budget approved by the Wesleyan Student Assembly.”
A campus spokesperson pointed out that this was not a vote to decide whether or not Farrakhan should be allowed to speak on campus, but whether student funds should be used to pay for his appearance.
Ujaama, the Black student group on campus, has requested the funds, although they have not yet issued a formal invitation to Farrakhan, who created a furor in the American Jewish community during the Democratic Presidential primaries, and was later quoted as saying, among other things, that Israel is “an outlaw nation” and describing Judoism as “a dirty religion.”
Ujaama, which means “family” in Swahili, represents a “sizable but not complete” segment of the university’s Black student population of some 200 students or about eight percent of the entire student body, a campus spokesperson said. Ujaama has not issued any statement to the press, although it is expected to issue a reaction in the near future to the referendum on the budget.
Bobby Wayne Clark, director of public information and publications at Wesleyan, said the referendum was initiated by two students, who he said were not affiliated with any particular campus groups. The students garnered 300 signatures to petition for a student referendum on the budget allocations.
Wesleyan does not have a B’nai B’rith Hillel organization for its Jewish students, estimated at 40 percent of the entire body. Filling in the void for the Hillel Foundation at the university is an organization called Havurah, which serves as the religious, cultural and educational center of the Jewish campus life, according to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
One active Jewish organization on campus is the Wesleyan Jewish Action Committee, whose co-chairperson Amy Hamburg, claimed that Ujaama did not understand the implications of seeking funds for an appearance on the campus of Farrakhan. She asserted that relations between Blacks and Jews on the campus have been strained although she did not elaborate. The Wesleyan Jewish Action Committee has a membership of some 40 persons, according to Hamburg.
EFFORT TO DEFUSE TENSIONS
In an effort to defuse any tensions which may arise over this incident, Clark noted that there have been at least four meetings on campus between Black and Jewish student groups. Clark praised the students’ actions and said the meetings were held in order for each part to understand each other’s sensitivity to the issue.
Eight Black and eight Jewish students, as well as some faculty members, attended a meeting last week which lasted 21/2 hours, according to Rabbi Roger Klein, the Jewish chaplain at Wesleyan. The rabbi was reported to be working closely with the university’s Protestant chaplain, Rev. Arnold Thomas, who is Black.
“More than just the Farrakhan issue was discussed,” Klein told the Connecticut Jewish Ledger. “There was recognition that the Black and Jewish communities have grown apart in the last 10 to 15 years. We had expressions of deep hurt by the Jewish students over the scheduling of a Farrakhan talk — and statements by Ujaama members that they had no obligations to see the issue through Jewish eyes.”
According to Klein, the student members of Ujaama “were genuinely shocked at the impact of their decision to invite Farrakhan. I don’t believe there was any bad intent involved. We’re trying now to find ways to resolve this dispute if at all possible.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
