PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Gabrielle Tierney, Student and President of Hillel at John Jay College (CUNY)
4:13:21
·
145 sec
Gabrielle Tierney, a senior at John Jay College and president of Hillel, addressed the committee about the need to modernize CUNY's policies and procedures regarding online presence and its impact on the campus environment. She highlighted issues with student clubs using social media to spread inflammatory content and create a hostile environment for Jewish students.
- Tierney referenced Judge Lippman's report, emphasizing the importance of updating CUNY's policies to address modern issues, including harmful behavior on social media.
- She mentioned specific incidents at John Jay where student clubs shared content glorifying terrorist organizations and known terrorists on their social media accounts.
- Tierney noted that the ADL identified John Jay's SJP social media account as particularly dangerous, leading to a partial suspension and the creation of an unofficial account.
Gabrielle Tierney
4:13:21
My name is Gabrielle Tierney.
4:13:25
Good morning.
4:13:25
Thank you, chairperson Dinowitz and members of the committee.
4:13:30
My name is Gabrielle Tierney.
4:13:32
I am a senior at John Jay and the president of Hillel.
4:13:37
Thank you for allowing me to address the urgent need to significantly modernize the CUNY's policies and procedures as on of online presence impacting the society's environment.
4:13:54
Judge Littman's recent report underscores the critical importance of revamping CUNY's policies to align with current legal standards and better address modern issues, including harmful behavior penetrated on social media.
4:14:11
This recommendation could not be more timely as recent events have highlighted significant failures in enforcing appropriate standards for campus organizations.
4:14:23
There are claims that it can be hard to address as it does not happen on campus and cannot and they cannot identify individuals involved in the incidents.
4:14:36
At John Jay, several student clubs have repeatedly used their social media platforms to spread inflammatory content.
4:14:46
Over the summer, these accounts posted and shared images and videos of their members participating in protests where flags of recognized tour terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and Hamas were prominently displayed.
4:15:01
They also have a history of glorifying known terrorists.
4:15:07
These posts, which normalize violence and incite hostility, have created a hostile environment for Jewish students.
4:15:16
The the ADL identified John Jay's SJP social media account as particularly dangerous.
Eric Dinowitz
4:15:26
Please finish with your final thought.
Gabrielle Tierney
4:15:30
So their account was partially suspended, and they instead created a new a new account that they said was not part of the school to then have another official one.
Eric Dinowitz
4:15:46
Thank you.
