EXCLUSIVE: Wellesley Jewish Students Rattled by Shocking R.A. Email

The following is my exclusive reporting on an incident Wellesley College

(A couple of clarifications: 1) I have deliberately NOT included or published the email address or phone number of the R.A. By withholding that info, I am making sure the writer is not "doxxed." Those of you who don't know what doxxing is, should not comment using that term. 2) Despite these efforts, someone maliciously, erroneously, and falsely reported me to Twitter/X for "posting private information" which I clearly have not done. My account was not able to post new information for 12 hours Sunday-Monday morning because of this dishonest and cowardly complaint that Twitter/X had not really vetted, but suspended me anyway. The suspension is now lifted)>

A resident Hall student president @Wellesley wrote an email late last week to all residents saying Israel is to blame for the Hamas massacre of Jewish civilians. There are Jewish students in this dorm who understandably now live in fear. Here is the email that went out to more than 1,000 students:

“Hello all, As of October 18th, 2023, the Palestinian-Israeli war has cost the lives of some 3,478 Palestinians and wounded 12,000. Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians, characterized by the displacement of 600,000 individuals, the dissemination of genocidal rhetoric by the Israeli government, and the illegal occupation of native Palestinian lands, have left our hearts heavy. With all historical, political, and territorial aspects considered, Israel’s zionist government needs to be condemned. Furthermore, individuals who endorse the forced removal of Palestinians should be recognized as supporters of colonization. Munger Hall stands in strong condemnation of Israel's actions and those who have supported their actions against Palestinians. We firmly believe that there should be no space, no consideration, and no support for Zionism within the Wellesley College community. In accordance with these beliefs, we plan on donating to a reputable organization that provides aid to the children and families whose lives have been destroyed. We will vote for the amount and organization in a future HoCo meeting. While Munger res staff want to support and make space for you through this devastating time, we also recognize that we may not be fully equipped to do so in the way each individual needs. Therefore, we’d like to point you to The Stone Center and The Office of Religious and Spiritual Life (ORSL) that may be able to help. ORSL is currently putting together processing spaces specifically for this issue, they may send an email soon regarding that. We care about each and every one of you, and please feel free to reach out with any ideas of how we can best support you during these difficult times.” Thank you, Munger Res Staff -- Moi Nee she/her Class of 2024 | Education Studies Major Munger Hall House President EDUC 215 Peer Tutor

On Sunday, I obtained the here follow up email sent by the @Wellesley R.A. after she was spoken to by the administration about her original email. Here that is below:

“Hello all, I would like to address the email that was sent last night on behalf of the Munger HP and 4 Munger RAs. We regret any harm our words have caused to our residents, parents, alumni, or others in the community. We are also truly sorry if it has dissuaded anyone from coming to us as RAs or an HP. We overstepped our roles as reslife staff in making this statement and apologize for that. The views expressed do not reflect the views of Paula Queenan (our CD), Cathy Bickel, the Office of Residential Life and Student Housing, Wellesley administration, the Munger community as a whole, or anyone else in the college. If you'd like to process this situation with other resources on campus, we would like to continue pointing you to The Stone Center and The Office of Religious and Spiritual Life (ORSL). We want our residents to know that while we never intended so, we understand how making this statement has caused hurt to specific populations in our community. We as a staff are committed to rebuilding trust and repairing relationships in the Munger community. If anybody has felt affected by the message sent last night, please feel free to reach out to us to talk. We hope to hold a community space for Munger residents soon regarding this issue. All my best, Moi”

The second email does not appear to be a real apology and it also tries to insist that there was an unspoken condemnation of Hamas in the first email that was not implied at all.

Less than an hour after I posted the second email on my Twitter account, my account was suspended from further posting privileges by the malicious/false report.

As of now, you can still read more details on my Twitter/X feed: https://twitter.com/jakejakeny

That is where we stand now.