A political science professor who sparked a firestorm of controversy with what some say were anti-Semitic remarks at Foothill College could now be getting heat at the College of San Mateo, where he also teaches.
The Anti Defamation League was unaware until contacted by the Daily Journal Tuesday that Leighton Armitage also teaches at CSM, said spokesman Jonathan Bernstein. Now Bernstein said the ADL plans to contact CSM officials to find out if Armitage's attitude is affecting the campus atmosphere there.
The controversy was set in motion when Armitage comments were printed in Foothill's student paper Jan. 28. In an interview with the Sentinel, Armitage said of Israeli treatment of Palestinians, "And what they're doing with Palestinians every day? They're killing them. They're walling them in, they're essentially doing the same thing that was done to them ... It's exactly what Hitler did to the Jews."
The ADL has been getting calls from faculty and students for more than a year about the intolerant political atmosphere at Foothill, Bernstein said.
"People there feel they can't be open about their Jewish background or their support for Israel," Bernstein said.
That's why the ADL wrote Foothill President Bernadine Chuck Fong a letter several months ago asking her to meet with the group. Only after the Armitage incident blew up did she recently agree to meet with ADL representatives, he said.
"We're taught this lesson over and over again," Bernstein said. "If these things are not addressed directly and openly, they fester."
And the problem isn't just isolated to Foothill.
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"We're primarily focused on Foothill, but the same things could be going on in San Mateo," Bernstein said. "We're going to look into the San Mateo situation."
Intolerance has become such a widespread problem on college campuses nationwide that the ADL has even developed a manual to help school officials deal with the problem, Bernstein said.
"We want to create an environment that allows all viewpoints to be expressed," he said.
Foothill College spokesman Kurt Hueg said a protest by the Muslim Student Association about a year and a half ago also caused some concerns. Other than that, however, Hueg said he can't recall any other incidents that might indicate there's an anti-Semitic atmosphere on campus.
School officials at Foothill are "reviewing" how the situation went down, said Hueg. That means Fong is meeting with Armitage, representatives of the student paper and the faculty advisor.
In the meantime, he said Armitage will continue to teach at Foothill.
Over at the College of San Mateo, school officials haven't even heard of the matter.
Regardless, Director of Human Resources Harry Joel said the district doesn't comment on personnel matters.
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