A student senator at a California college posted several vitriolic and anti-Semitic tweets this past summer, according to a tip received through the Campus Bias Tipline.
The student senator for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), Yasmeen Mashayekh, who is also President of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute student organization at the University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering, shared multiple viciously anti-Semitic tweets over the summer of 2021, including one in which she said, “Death to Israel and its b*tch the US.”
“I want to kill every motherf*cking Zionist,” she wrote in another.
She also shared tweets depicting violence with the caption “LMAOOOOOO THEY DID THOUGH.”
USC’s Viterbi School of Engineering said, “Even though the statements at issue are legally protected, we understand they are disturbing,” in an Instagram post acknowledging that the individual is a student.
“USC rejects and condemns hatred in all its forms.”
It is unclear whether the student will face punitive actions, but the school reportedly quietly removed the student’s picture from its list of student senators.
USC did not respond to YAF’s request for comment in time for publication.
Dean of Viterbi, Yannis Yortsos reportedly downplayed both the student’s actions and position to alumni Emily Schrader in email correspondence, telling her “There has been erroneous information circulating on social media about this…”
He refused to divulge information regarding the student’s status and what the school planned to do about the matter, citing privacy concerns.
Across the country anti-Semitism is taking root in our institutions of higher education and schools are turning a blind eye. They refuse to take punitive action against this bigotry, and thus embolden anti-Semitism and other forms of hatred and bigotry on campus. Students must hold their universities accountable.
