REMARKS
Council members' connection to CUNY and the emotional context of the hearing
0:01:58
·
88 sec
Council Member Dinowitz expresses his pride as a CUNY alum and highlights the significant representation of CUNY graduates in the city council, including the speaker.
- 21 council members, including Speaker Adrienne Adams, are CUNY graduates.
- The council members attribute their current positions to their CUNY education.
- Dinowitz acknowledges the difficulty of addressing antisemitism and discrimination at an institution they love and value.
Eric Dinowitz
0:01:58
I I always start out these hearings by saying I'm a proud CUNY alum, and and I am.
0:02:04
In fact, I have a nice poster in my office that that you all sent me, which has 21 of us, 21 council members, including our speaker, Adrienne Adams, who are graduates of CUNY.
0:02:17
We love CUNY.
0:02:18
I think all of us in one way or or another are here in the council because of what CUNY gave us, what CUNY provided for us.
0:02:27
And so hearings like this dealing with issues of antisemitism and discrimination, are very hard for us, very hard to grapple with the reality that the institution that we love so much, that gave us so much, is a place where too many students don't feel safe and don't feel welcome.
0:02:49
Chancellor, I I before I even read anything, I wanna thank you for being here today.
0:02:55
I think in your heart, you know this is an important issue.
0:02:58
You care about this issue, and I think your mere presence today sends a message to the Jewish students here and all students here that this is an issue you care about.
0:03:09
But with that, this hearing is not about what's in your heart.
0:03:15
It's about CUNY's policies and the policies that have so far failed to meaningfully keep our students safe and make them feel welcome on our CUNY campuses.
