Sonoma State University President Mike Lee Placed On Leave For Agreeing To Academic Boycott Of Israel

Sonoma State University President Mike Lee was placed on leave on Wednesday less than 24 hours after becoming the first University administrator in the country to agree to an academic boycott of Israel in exchange for Pro-Palestinian protestors to remove their encampment from campus.

Since late April, several pro-Palestine, pro-Hamas protests and encampments have turned into mass arrest events in California. The first such event occurred on April 24th when protesters refused to leave an encampment at the USC campus in Los Angeles. Law enforcement subsequently moved in, razing the encampment and arresting 93 protestors, of whom over 50 were students. On April 30th, another 35 students were arrested at Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata when, after a week of occupying 2 buildings on campus, law enforcement officers retook both in a major sweep. Another encampment bust on May 2nd, this time at UCLA, destroyed one of the largest protester encampments in the country, leading to 210 arrests. Less than a week later, 65 were arrested at UC San Diego.

While the bigger Universities often grabbed headlines, smaller colleges also had protest activity. Sonoma State University located in the Sonoma County city of Rohnert Park, was no exception. According to the University, Pro-Palestinian protestors set up an encampment on campus on April 25th and had been largely peaceful. Unlike many other college protests in California that ramped up efforts in May, Sonoma State protestors continued to only do typical protest activity that rarely interrupted classes on campus.

“Sonoma State University is primarily concerned with three things during such events: the safety of our students, faculty, staff, and visitors; supporting the right to free expression by our community; and minimizing disruption to the teaching, learning, and working taking place on campus,” Sonoma State said in a press release in late April. “The University Police Department is deeply committed to making sure that those participating in the encampment — and those who are not — are safe and secure.”

Despite Pro-Palestinian protestors on campus not resorting to violence and large-scale disruptions, they still demanded the University divest from Israel, enact an academic boycott of Israel, and recognize the Palestinian identity. And, much like many Universities, Sonoma State wanted the encampment removed from campus by the end of the semester without the use of police or security. SSU President Lee began meeting with students last week, for direct in-person talks with protestors. Many assumed that he and the University would do the typical response from Universities in recent days and say that they would reexamine their ties with Israel later in the year in exchange for protestors removing their encampment.

Lee’s agreement

However, the response from Lee on Tuesday night was much more dramatic. In a letter, Lee agreed to almost every demand protestors had. Not only would SSU review all investments with Israel and call for a ceasefire in Gaza, but Sonoma State would also start teaching Palestinian Studies beginning this fall and have a council of students from an anti-Israeli group look over all agreements. Critically, he also announced an academic boycott of Israel, the first such boycott announced by an American university.

“SSU will not pursue or engage in any study abroad programs, faculty exchanges, or other formal collaborations that are sponsored by, or represent, the Israeli state academic and research institutions,” Lee said in his letter Tuesday. “SSU also commits to immediately updating any SSU pamphlets and SSU-hosted websites that may still be circulating or searchable and to remove hosting or linking to any pamphlets, flyers, or brochures advertising the study abroad program where students are encouraged to study abroad in Israel. SSU will make it clear to any students that any such programs are terminated until further notice and not simply suspended.”

“SSU remains committed to upholding principles of academic freedom and open scholarly exchange. As such, SSU welcomes opportunities to engage Palestinian scholars and students, as well as individual Israeli scholars acting in a personal capacity.”

Within hours, rather than deescalate the situation, Lee’s letter proved the opposite. Many students on campus railed against what Lee had done, saying that he had gone way too far. Others noted that he had given many concessions towards Palestinians while taking away programs and other academic interests for Israel and Jewish students.

“Lee pretty much said ‘Screw Israel and screw Jewish students wanting to learn about their culture’ in that letter,” said Rebecca, an SSU student, to the Globe on Thursday. “We had all been bracing for him saying that they would be looking into investments later in the year or something like that. Not almost completely giving into protesters. And it’s funny. Lee was expecting to be praised for this but instead he just made everyone mad for giving into a handful of students on campus and ignoring virtually everyone else. When my dad, a lawyer, read the letter, his first thought was ‘Is your president a racist?’ That is not a great first thought, you know?”

Jewish groups and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle also quickly condemned Lee’s actions on Tuesday and Wednesday. State Senator Scott Weiner messaged on X on Wednesday:

“Yesterday the President of Sonoma State University aligned the campus with BDS, a movement whose goal is the destruction of Israel, home to 7M Jews. Several other UC & CSU campuses are doing this more subtly. Sonoma State simply said the quiet part out loud. The mask is off.

“It gets even more extreme. Sonoma State delegated to Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), an anti-Israel group, the authority to implement the BDS agreement. SJP will have exclusive power to determine which faculty & students are allowed to be involved in that implementation.”

Yesterday the President of Sonoma State University aligned the campus with BDS, a movement whose goal is the destruction of Israel, home to 7M Jews.

Several other UC & CSU campuses are doing this more subtly. Sonoma State simply said the quiet part out loud.

The mask is off. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/DDUiIzKcTG

— Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) May 15, 2024

California State University officials, horrified at the response, quickly went into action on Wednesday following the severe backlash. California State University Chancellor Mildred Garcia quickly charged that Lee had sent the memo without any CSU approval, which was needed for the agreement to be valid. She also charged him with insubordination and placed him on leave, with CSU’s board looking into the matter.

“His message had been sent without the appropriate approvals, “said Garcia on Wednesday. “Because of this insubordination and consequences it has brought upon the system, President Lee has been placed on administrative l​eave. I understand how challenging and painful the agreement email had been for many.”

With Lee’s agreement pretty much null and void and his own University putting him on leave for even thinking it was ok to do, Lee gave an apology letter late on Wednesday. In it, he admitted that he had divided students as a result of his attempted deal, and had actually marginalized most students as a result.