Vermont
‘Victim blaming’: University of Vermont assailed for denying antisemitism charges
Main US Jewish teams condemned the College of Vermont on Friday, after the college issued a agency denial of antisemitism on campus in response to a federal investigation into alleged anti-Jewish discrimination by college students and school.
The US Division of Schooling investigation right into a sequence of alleged antisemitic incidents on the college was introduced on Tuesday.
On Thursday, the flagship Vermont state college in Burlington, generally known as UVM, denied the allegations as “patently false.
“The uninformed narrative printed this week has been dangerous to UVM,” college president Suresh Garimella stated in a message to the college neighborhood. “Equally importantly, it’s dangerous to our Jewish college students, school, employees, and alumni.
“There isn’t a doubt that antisemitism exists on the planet and, regardless of our greatest efforts, in our neighborhood,” he stated. “Exploitation of worry and divisiveness by advancing false claims that UVM failed to reply to complaints of antisemitic habits creates confusion and a way of insecurity for your complete neighborhood.”
The college stated it believes the investigation will clear it of any wrongdoing. The blistering denial was a extra strident response to antisemitism allegations than these issued by different US universities additionally underneath investigation.
“Whereas frequent knowledge dictates remaining patiently silent as we cooperate diligently with an company’s investigation, I merely can’t achieve this. These public allegations and our neighborhood’s deeply held values name for a powerful and instant response,” Garimella stated.
College of Vermont President Suresh Garimella speaks with reporters on Monday, July 1, 2019, in Burlington, Vermont. (AP/Lisa Rathke)
Jewish organizations stated the flat-out denial of an issue amounted to blaming Jewish college students for elevating the difficulty, and should additional alienate Jews and stoke extra antisemitism on campus.
Twenty distinguished Jewish organizations stated they have been “alarmed, disenchanted and troubled by the response,” which they stated “additional legitimized” antisemitism.
“As a substitute of summoning the braveness that different college leaders throughout the nation have proven in acknowledging the issue or providing assist for Jewish college students who’re fearful about figuring out publicly as Jewish, the UVM President’s assertion doubles down and refuses to take duty,” stated a letter signed by teams together with the Anti-Defamation League, Hillel Worldwide, the Simon Wiesenthal Heart, Jewish on Campus, the Jewish Federations of North America and the College of Vermont Chabad chapter.
“The college has denied assist to a focused neighborhood, and, in suggesting that Jewish college students must discover ways to higher defend themselves, has basically chosen responsible the victims,” the letter stated.
The Louis D. Brandeis Heart for Human Rights Below Legislation, which helped file the grievance towards the college, stated its response was “astonishingly insufficient and offensive.”
The campus of the College of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont, March 11, 2020. (AP Photograph/Charles Krupa)
“Garimella’s assertion reveals neither reflection, nor understanding, nor regret,” the Brandeis Heart stated.
“Garimella demonstrates solely the dismissive perspective that has left Jewish college students weak to harassment and discrimination, blaming the victims who blew the whistle,” the middle stated.
The American Jewish Committee stated Garimella’s denial “has negatively impacted Jewish college students who’ve skilled antisemitism on campus, making Jewish college students and teams really feel much less included, valued, and guarded.”
“We are deeply disenchanted that the college selected to talk on behalf of Jewish college students, moderately than stage a extra sturdy and much-needed dialog with them,” the committee stated.
The World Jewish Congress stated it was “troubled” by Garimella’s response.
“His assertion is way extra equivocal than the reactions by different college and school presidents and administrations to manifestations of antisemitism on their campuses,” the group stated.
The allegations towards UVM stated Zionist college students had been barred from pupil golf equipment, together with a sexual assault assist group; {that a} educating assistant had threatened to decrease Zionist college students’ grades and reveled in cyberbullying them; and that college students threw rocks at a Hillel pupil dormitory for Jews and vandalized its doorways.
Garimella stated the college promptly and totally investigated the allegations outlined within the grievance.
After investigating teams that excluded Zionist college students from membership, the college decided the teams weren’t acknowledged pupil organizations, obtained no college assist and weren’t sure by the college’s insurance policies governing pupil organizations.
An Instagram submit from a College of Vermont sexual assault survivors assist group saying the exclusion of Zionists. (Courtesy)
The college decided that no grades have been lowered by the anti-Zionist educating assistant, regardless of her threats, and no pupil reported they’d been discriminated towards.
Lastly, after studying that rocks had been thrown at a campus Hillel constructing the place Jewish college students lived, police decided small rocks have been thrown on the constructing to get the eye of a resident, and there was no proof it was motivated by antisemitic bias, Garimella stated.
The Brandeis Heart stated the protection was “wholly insufficient.”
A pupil ebook membership that banned Zionists is definitely sponsored by the college, the Brandeis Heart stated, additionally claiming that the 2 teams’ discriminatory conduct will not be lined by free speech protections.
The sexual assault assist group that banned Zionists was a serious pupil group that engaged with the administration as if it have been a acknowledged membership, making the college accountable for its discrimination, the Brandeis Heart argued.
The educating assistant had been “inciting hostility” towards Jews by saying it was “good and humorous” to bully them, and inspired her followers to do the identical, along with threatening their grades, the middle stated. The college didn’t handle her cyberbullying or encouraging antisemitism in its response, or dispute that she was nonetheless employed.
The scholars who threw rocks on the Jewish dormitories requested residents who confronted them in the event that they have been Jewish, threw the stones for no less than half-hour and vandalized the doorways to the constructing, in keeping with the grievance, which doesn’t jibe with the college’s clarification of the incident.
The Burack Hillel Heart close to the campus of the College of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont, March 11, 2020. (AP Photograph/Charles Krupa)
The grievance towards the college alleged it allowed a hostile antisemitic surroundings on campus in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The regulation prohibits discrimination on the premise of race, shade or nationwide origin in packages that obtain federal funding. Antisemitic discrimination was included as a Title VI violation in 2019 with an govt order from former US president Donald Trump, opening a brand new authorized battlefield for Jewish advocates alleging antisemitism on campuses.
The Division of Schooling’s Workplace for Civil Rights solely pursues investigations into complaints it deems worthy of an intensive investigation.
Earlier than the federal investigation, Jewish college students on the flagship Vermont state school reported widespread discrimination. A report by Jewish on Campus launched earlier this 12 months discovered that the College of Vermont had extra reported antisemitic incidents than another campus in 2021.
Vermont
Grace Potter 'Emotionally Preparing to Lose' Home in L.A. Fires as She Reveals Vt. House Destroyed in Flood Last Summer
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2)/grace-potter-fires-tout-010925-d2c8e62a185845dc85646ac8779d95d2.jpg "Grace Potter 'Emotionally Preparing to Lose' Home in L.A. Fires as She Reveals Vt. House Destroyed in Flood Last Summer")
Grace Potter is staying safe amid the fires in California.
In an Instagram Reel shared on Wednesday, Jan. 8, the “Mother Road” singer spoke about evacuating the Los Angeles fires after recently being in New Orleans during the terror attack on Jan. 1 and losing her Vermont home amid the flooding in July 2024.
“We are safely evacuated from Topanga Canyon but many are still in harms way,” Potter, 41, wrote. “Just now we discovered that the place we evacuated to is also under evacuation orders. They just announced the schools are shut.”
Potter said that she had just arrived in L.A. after a cross-country trip after being in New Orleans “amid the terror attack.” She also mentioned that last summer her Fayston, Vt. farm was “devastated by the floods.”
“Life is wildly unpredictable and it’s important [to] keep your heart strong and your mind clear. If you see smoke, don’t wait for cell signal,” Potter continued.
“Trust your gut. Pack the necessities & GET OUT. I’m feeling deep gratitude for family, friends, the firefighters and for community. We are lucky. Stay safe out there folks.”
Her Jan. 8 video showed her driving away from the smoke. “Am I a storm chaser, or do I just like being places where really bad things happen? Or is this just happening everywhere? I don’t know,” she said in the clip, adding that she would pick up her son Sagan, 7 this week, from school and found a hotel to stay at.
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On Jan. 1, Potter was in New Orleans celebrating the New Year when a truck intentionally drove through the crowd on Bourbon Street leaving at least 14 people dead and dozens injured.
“We were standing at the corner of the intersection where only hours later a car came crashing through in a terrifying & violent act,” Potter’s joint Instagram post with husband Eric Valentine read.
“Then this morning, as we were in our room packing our bags to leave, a bomb was detonated less than a block away from our hotel in the quarter.”
Valentine added: “I am grateful my family is safe. I am grateful for the brave people who put their lives on the line to do their best to keep us safe. Our hearts go out to those who were injured and to the families and friends of those who were lost.”
In July, the singer posted pictures and videos of the damage from the floods with water overflowing rivers and roadways. Following the flooding, Potter said that the annual Grand Point North Festival would also serve as a benefit for those affected by the Vt. floods.
“Vermont, my heart is with you. I’ll be home soon, and we will rebuild as we always do,” she wrote.
Grace Potter/Instagram
Potter also shared a picture of a map of the blaze on her Instagram Stories on Jan. 8, pointing out where her home was. “Emotionally preparing to lose our home,” she wrote. “All i can do now is hope for a miracle & send love to the Canyon that brought me back into the daylight.”
The L.A. fires began on Tuesday, Jan. 7. Thousands of structures have been affected by the disastrous blaze.
Click here to learn more about how to help the victims of the L.A. fires.
UVM hockey legend Eric Perrin returns to Burlington on coaching staff
Eric Perrin, UVM hockey’s all-time leading goal scorer returns to Burlington helping out on the coaching staff for the past nine days.
Vermont basketball scored the game’s first seven points and built multiple 10-point leads early in the first half of Saturday’s America East Conference showdown at Bryant.
But everything unraveled after the Catamounts’ roaring start.
The Bryant Bulldogs seized control by the halftime horn and rolled in the second half for a 73-53 victory, handing Vermont its biggest conference defeat in two decades.
The Catamounts (9-9, 2-1) haven’t loss by at least 20 points to a league opponent in the regular season since the 2004-05 finale at Maine, 87-66, when stars Taylor Coppenrath and T.J. Sorrentine did not play. They also suffered a 22-point setback to Stony Brook in the 2011 America East semifinals.
Vermont opened a 24-14 lead on a Shamir Bogues 3-pointer with 8 minutes, 21 seconds before the break. Then the Bulldogs unleashed a 20-6 spurt to close the half. Bryant, though, kept momentum on its side, scoring 20 of the first 22 points of the second half.
The advantage ballooned to 57-32 by the 12-minute mark. All told, Bryant had a 43-8 run spanning the two halves to carve out the insurmountable advantage.
Connor Withers, who started Bryant’s comeback in the first half with a 3-pointer, paced the hosts with 19 points. Rafael Pinzon and Barry Evans each had 13 points, and Early Timberlake added a dozen points for Bryant’s first win over Vermont since joining America East ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.
For Vermont, Bogues totaled 17 points and six rebounds, and Ileri Ayo-Faleye collected 15 points. Sam Alamutu picked up 11 rebounds.
The Bulldogs scored 22 points off Vermont’s 17 turnovers. Bryant also made 11 3-pointers.
The Catamounts return to action for the league home opener Thursday night vs. Binghamton.
Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter: @aabrami5.
Phil Martelli, Jr.’s opening statement after Bryant’s win vs. Vermont
Phil Martelli, Jr.’s opening statement after Bryant’s 73-53 win vs. Vermont men’s basketball.
SMITHFIELD — Bryant men’s basketball’s addition to the America East three years ago didn’t alter the traditional powers.
Vermont captured the last two league titles to finish off a stretch of five crowns in six years for the Burlington program. Bryant, before joining the conference, largely had no history with its northern neighbors outside of a home-and-home series in 2013-14.
The Bryant-Vermont matchup was reintroduced in January of 2023 with Vermont winning all four meetings since they became conference foes. Bryant halted that run and redirected the league’s authority on Saturday night at the Chace Center.
Bryant (8-9, 2-0) blistered the Catamounts with an early run and thumped Vermont in the second half for a 73-53 triumph behind Connor Withers’ 19 points. The six-year guard caught fire at the end of the first half and shot 8-14 for the game. Bryant only kept that potent scoring going in the second half.
“I don’t even know my record against them,” Withers said of Vermont. “I’ve lost a lot more than I’ve won against them. And then losing in the championship, I’ve got a lot of respect for that team. They’re top of the conference every year, the team to beat every year. It does feel good.”
Withers transferred to Bryant from UMass Lowell last season. The guard lost to Vermont, 72–59, in the 2022-23 conference championship. Saturday’s win can’t erase that feeling, but his shooting can pace a conference run for Bryant this winter.
“It’s just another win and it’s just one win,” Withers said. “As good as it feels to beat them, it only counts for one win. It doesn’t count for five wins in the conference, it counts for one win. As good as it feels, it doesn’t mean too much if we don’t handle business next week and the next game that we play.”
The Bulldogs trailed, 15-5, before trading 3s with Vermont on six straight possessions. They withstood Vermont’s best punch through the first 12 minutes of the game and trailed just 24-17 on Withers’ second 3-pointer.
The shot from the wing got Withers going as he added his third trey of the contest just a few minutes later to give Bryant its first lead, 28-26, with 4:20 to play in the frame. He added another long jumper and a layup high off the glass for a personal 7-0 run.
“It’s the discipline,” Bryant coach Phil Martelli Jr. said of Vermont’s success. “I would bet there’s not a lot of games where they’ve turned it over that much (17 turnovers) and haven’t turned the opponent over. The game was played on our terms, outside of those first minutes, which is hard to do against them. They usually play it on their terms and then you get into that game trying to beat them at their game. That’s hard to do, as we’ve seen.”
Withers’ sequence started a Bryant run, 23-6, that ended only from the halftime horn. But the Bulldogs didn’t stop, and out of the break scored 20 of the first 22 points. All told, Bryant’s supremacy was a 43-8 run over 17 minutes of play.
“I was concerned about us settling,” Martelli said. “And then we came out, we got to the rim, we scored, and we’re able to get some layups and do some things. … And that goes to, we have guys that have the ability to do multiple things.
“That was key for us. I think being able to start that half and getting some layups, obviously, getting the stops along with it.”
Barry Evans and Rafael Pinzon both chipped in 13 points. Earl Timberlake added a dozen with six rebounds, four assists and four steals as Bryant shot 44.6% from the field and was 11-for-27 from beyond the arc.
“I get it, we haven’t beaten them,” Martelli said. “They are the standard. They are flat-out the standard. But it’s [only the second conference win].
“It’s good we beat Vermont because that’s who we played today. We got number two, now let’s get number three.”
Bryant vs. Vermont all-time
Nov. 16, 2013: Bryant 87, Vermont 64
Nov. 26, 2014: Vermont 73, Bryant 47
Jan. 5, 2023: Vermont 74, Bryant 64
Feb. 25, 2023: Vermont 70, Bryant 66
Jan. 27, 2024: Vermont 67, Bryant 57
Feb. 24, 2024: Vermont 65, Bryant 48
jrousseau@providencejournal.com
On X: @ByJacobRousseau
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