Saller, Martinez express concerns for safety and wellbeing on campus amid Israel-Gaza conflict

Oct. 20, 2023, 1:20 a.m.

The Stanford University Department of Public Safety (SUDPS) is investigating “several incidents” on-campus related to the “violence in Israel and Gaza,” newly-inaugurated President Richard Saller and Provost Jenny Martinez wrote in a Thursday email to students. 

The email did not specify which incidents the department is investigating.

This email comes over a week after the University suspended non-faculty instructor Ameer Hasan Loggins for “identity-based targeting” related to the treatment of Jewish students in two COLLEGE sections he taught. 

In Thursday’s email, Saller and Martinez urged community members to refrain from “actions that may appear to target individuals.”

Saller and Martinez also reiterated the University’s commitment to campus safety, writing that SUDPS is “actively working to secure the safety of campus.”

This is the second email regarding the Israel-Gaza conflict from Martinez and Saller, who previously sent out a longer statement on Oct. 11 after dozens of faculty members called on Stanford to release a statement condemning Hamas’ recent attack on Israel. 

The Oct. 11 statement condemned the attack on Israel and recognized students’ right to free speech regarding the conflict, including their rights to put up banners, post signs and chalk on campus. 

In line with the University’s position on institutional neutrality, they made no definite statements regarding the violence abroad, focusing instead on the situation at Stanford. “There is no place for hate and physical violence on this campus,” wrote Saller and Martinez. 

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