Reader CONDEmns JMU’s Holocaust remembrance response

I am writing as a JMU alumni, resident of the Shenandoah Valley and Virginia taxpayer. I would like to commend The Breeze’s coverage of the university’s failure to properly plan and conduct a Holocaust commemoration ceremony this year.

Unlike the most recent author of a letter about this issue, I am not a member of the Jewish community. Nor am I a personal friend of the JMU provost. I have no connection to Florida Atlantic University (FAU) — the provost’s previous employer, and more than coincidentally, the current employer of the guest speaker at this year’s Holocaust Commemoration Ceremony.

- I know enough about organizational behavior and history to recognize that:

- The provost mishandled the Holocaust Commemoration Ceremony by circumventing the will of the Jewish committee members responsible for planning the event.

- The guest speaker for the ceremony was from the provost’s former academic institution, FAU, and was not the choice of the committee. The individual that recently wrote a letter to The Breeze was also a friend of the provost’s from another Florida university. The fact that the two of them performed together in concert makes it very unlikely that the letter to The Breeze was spontaneous or unbiased.

- The failure of JMU’s president to address the concerns of the university’s Jewish community is lamentable and invites accusations of antisemitism.

To the Breeze editor and team, please continue to cover this important story and to serve as a critical venue for free speech and thought at JMU.