Chapman students march to protect DEI amid Trump antisemitism probe
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A coalition of Chapman University student groups held a noontime protest Monday, one week after the U.S. Department of Education announced that the Orange campus is one of 60 colleges across the nation under investigation for alleged antisemitism.
Following the March 10 letter that warned colleges risked losing federal funding if they failed to protect Jewish students, outgoing Chapman University President Daniele Struppa informed faculty and staff that two vice presidents, Norma Bouchard and Reg Stewart, were placed on administrative leave without explanation.
Student activists from 33 campus groups assembled in front of a barricade of fences that otherwise prevented them from speaking on the steps of Memorial Hall to protest the move.
“Chapman University and so-called ‘free speech advocate’ Daniele Struppa [are] doing nothing to make Chapman students feel protected,” Scott Tucker, an activist with Chapman Students for Justice in Palestine, told rally-goers. “We don’t have to bend the knee to this administration.”
Chapman University President Daniele Struppa sent a campus-wide email condemning the award given to Students for Justice in Palestine, which was promptly rescinded.
At one point during the protest, Dean of Student Affairs Jerry Price informed student speakers that using bullhorns on the lawn in front of Memorial Hall wasn’t allowed. He later tried to wrest one from Myth Moos, another SJP student activist, but left without it under a chorus of boos.
“The protest is perfectly legit,” Price told TimesOC. “It’s just that university policy prohibits amplified sound during class hours without advanced approval.”
Pete Simi, a Chapman University sociology professor and expert on extremist groups, attended the rally to support principles of academic freedom, freedom of speech and DEI, which he said has come under attack, especially since President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
“I see the letter that Chapman got as part of a broader strategy by the current presidential administration to divide universities, to pit staff and administration against faculty and students,” he said. “I see it as an effort to create fear and intimidation.”
Bouchard had served as executive vice president, provost and chief academic officer at Chapman University since 2021. Struppa’s email announced Glenn Pfeiffer as acting provost.
The shakeup also sidelined Stewart as vice president of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Gabriela Castañeda now leads the campus’ DEI office.
Josh Olatunji, a junior at Chapman, held up a “Reinstate Dr. Reg Now” sign and described the move to put him on administrative leave as “shocking,” especially for Black students like himself.
“Dr. Reg is one of the first people I met at Chapman,” he said. “He led the ‘brother bonding’ meetings, which is a space for Black men to hang out with Black professors who I would have never otherwise known.”
Chapman’s DEI office came under fire earlier this year when it hosted the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Awards in January that honored Students for Justice in Palestine.
Struppa later sent out a campus-wide email publicly criticizing the award while apologizing to Jewish students.
The award was promptly rescinded.
Olatunji believes the controversy played a role in the decision to put Steward on administrative leave.
Carly Murphy, a Chapman spokesperson, cited privacy and confidentiality concerns in response to TimesOC questions whether the administrative moves were made in response to the Trump probe.
“Chapman remains committed to supporting all students of all backgrounds and is working with Dr. Gabriela Castañeda, who is leading our DEI team and operations, on next steps,” Murphy said.
The campus is home to the Fish Interfaith Center, the Barry and Phyllis Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education and the new Or Initiative funded by a $1.85-million grant from the Samueli Foundation.
But last February, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law sent a letter to the U.S. Dept. of Education and California’s Civil Rights Office charging Chapman violated the civil rights of Jewish students.
It alleged two Jewish students were barred from joining Students for Justice in Palestine, with one student reporting a “death threat” she received online to university officials, who did not remove the alleged harasser from campus.
“These incidents demonstrate that Chapman is failing to protect Jewish students,” the letter read.
A coalition of Jewish groups reached an agreement with the Santa Ana Unified School District that shelves three ethnic studies classes and sets parameters for how future courses are to be approved by trustees.
Myth Moos, SJP co-president, believes campuses under investigation were targeted for pro-Palestinian activism, including the protest encampment at Chapman last year.
“SJP has always been open to Jewish students,” said Moos, who is Black and Jewish. “I joined SJP around the time when students were alleging antisemitic incidents took place and, as a Jewish student, I can attest that I was welcomed in with open arms.”
After Moos helped lead Monday’s rally into a march, which included some Jewish students from Judaism On Our Own Terms, demonstrators circled around campus without much counterprotest.
One man started chanting “USA!” at the crowd before he was drowned out by louder chants of “DEI!”
Half-a-dozen students with Chapman University College Republicans distributed fliers with Trump’s image next to text reading “DEI is over,” but declined to comment.
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