{"id":70396,"date":"2019-05-28T17:00:25","date_gmt":"2019-05-28T15:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=70396"},"modified":"2019-05-17T07:20:30","modified_gmt":"2019-05-17T05:20:30","slug":"28-00-39","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=70396","title":{"rendered":"Williams College Recognizes Zionist Club"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Amid Outcry, Williams College Recognizes Zionist Club First Rejected by Student Council<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Shiri Moshe<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Thompson Memorial Chapel at Williams College. Photo: Wikimedia commons.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

A Zionist club that was rejected by the student government of\u00a0Williams College\u00a0in Massachusetts nonetheless received recognition this week as a registered student organization\u00a0(RSO), following intervention by the administration.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Williams Initiative for Israel (WIFI) was initially\u00a0denied<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0RSO status by the student-run College Council (CC) on April 23rd, in what was believed to be the first such rejection in over a decade. Students who spoke against\u00a0the group, which\u00a0according to its constitution seeks to \u201csupport Israel and the pro-Israel campus community,\u201d emphasized their disagreement with its perceived\u00a0political stance.<\/span><\/p>\n

The decision was criticized by WIFI leaders, as well as\u00a0President Maud Mandel, who last week\u00a0said<\/strong><\/span><\/a>\u00a0she was \u201cdisappointed\u201d that the CC failed \u201cto follow its own processes and bylaws.\u201d Mandel added that\u00a0WIFI could continue to operate without RSO status, and maintain\u00a0access to \u201cmost services available to student groups.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet some off-campus critics, among them the AMCHA Initiative, Academic Engagement Network, and Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), called for more action, arguing that WIFI should receive the status and all accompanying benefits it was eligible for.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a statement shared on Wednesday with FIRE and confirmed by\u00a0The Algemeiner<\/em>, Williams spokesperson Gregory Shook said\u00a0WIFI has since been granted recognition through \u201ca parallel path to RSO status\u201d laid out in the\u00a0Student Handbook, which \u201cinvolved a committee made up of administrators and CC reps.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUnder Massachusetts state law, a college\u2019s student handbook is a binding contract between students and the institution,\u201d\u00a0Shook explained. \u201cTherefore, we had a legal obligation to offer that process if WIFI requested it, which they did.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The committee gathered on Tuesday to consider WIFI\u2019s request,\u00a0\u201cas required by law, and voted to grant RSO status to WIFI.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWIFI is now an RSO with the full rights, privileges and responsibilities that label entails,\u201d he affirmed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shook\u00a0expressed the administration\u2019s commitment to \u201csupport students in thinking about the kind of governance they want and deserve,\u201d and to work with the current CC on structural issues.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a statement to\u00a0The Algemeiner\u00a0<\/em>on Thursday, WIFI applauded the decision, as well as \u201cMandel and administrators for their constant support in this manner.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWIFI looks forward to contributing its perspective to campus dialogue and critically engaging with the campus community about Israel,\u201d the group said.<\/span><\/p>\n

FIRE also welcomed the announcement, expressing hope that Williams intended to adhere to its own Code of Conduct in promising \u201ca community in which all ranges of opinion and belief can be expressed and debated.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Amid Outcry, Williams College Recognizes Zionist Club First Rejected by Student Council Shiri Moshe Thompson Memorial Chapel at Williams College. Photo: Wikimedia commons. A Zionist club that was rejected by the student government of\u00a0Williams College\u00a0in Massachusetts nonetheless received recognition this week as a registered student organization\u00a0(RSO), following intervention by the administration. The Williams Initiative for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70396"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=70396"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70469,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70396\/revisions\/70469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=70396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=70396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=70396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}