IDS Thursday, March 27, 2025
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HOOSIERS FALL TO SOUTH CAROLINA IN NCAA TOURNAMENT
IU removes DEI language from campus Websites and printed flyers have been altered or removed by the university amid political pressure
By Natalia Nelson and Deshna Venkatachalam news@idsnews.com
IU has made several changes to website pages concerning diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Six culture centers are now listed as departments under the Office of Student Life web page. The centers have been and still are listed under the Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion website with links to their own web pages. According to a now-archived web page captured on the Internet Archive Feb. 18, the culture centers were not previously listed as departments under the Office of Student Life. Senior Allison Taube, a
member of the Asian Culture Center and multicultural organization representative, said she was at a student leader lunch in the ACC when the change was announced by culture center faculty on March 6. “We were told that culture centers would be moving under the Office of Student Life after this transition,” Taube said. “While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it sort of rose concerns because will the culture centers have as much support as they do if it's under Student Life?” Currently, the culture centers operate under OVPDEI. The office provides support for culture center programming, outreach and advocacy. The IDS has not yet been able to directly confirm that cul-
ture centers will be moved to the Office of Student Life. IU has not responded to multiple requests for comment at the time of publication. The Associate Vice Provost for Student Life and Vice President of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion have not responded to requests for comment. Taube created an email template students and faculty can send to IU Provost Rahul Shrivastav and Vice Provost for Student Life Lamar Hylton to share their concerns and beliefs on the importance of the culture centers. “This is all word of mouth, but IU needs to make a statement on it because it’s such a big topic,” Taube said. “Especially with culture centers being such an integral part of a lot of people’s campus ex-
periences, we want to know what’s happening.” Changes to DEI language on IU websites and signage The IDS also observed changes to the OVPDEI website, which it verified against two archived versions of the website. The IDS used an internet archive website that catalogues previous versions of web pages, saved to the archive by other internet users. On the OVPDEI homepage, a drop-down column formerly labeled “Diversity Education” was changed to “Professional Development.” Other dropdown columns, which previously included links to websites including the "Leadership Certification Program,” "Inclusive Campus Environment Toolkit," "previ-
ous workshops" and “LinkedIn Learning: Diversity Path,” were altered to only include the "Inclusive Campus Environment Toolkit.” The contact for diversity education and cross-cultural engagement is also missing from the OVPDEI website. The previous version of the page was last captured by an internet archive web page Jan. 23. A university website allowing users to recommend “potential underrepresented minority students” to IU, which would then allow the OVPDEI to contact those students about pre-college programs and funding opportunities, also seems to be missing. The page was last captured Jan. 19. The headline of the Faculty and Belonging site, “Faculty
and Belonging: A Strategic Focus on Faculty Diversity” was edited to remove the word “diversity.” A subhead reading “Exploring Diversity in Higher Education” was changed to “My Journey to IU,” and the “Diversity Tools and Resources” section also appears to have been removed. The page was last captured Jan. 19. The Office of Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion website is also missing links including recommended DEI readings, a glossary of DEI terms, IU’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals resource page and a “‘bookette’ with advice, wisdom and inspiration for Young Black men.”
SEE DEI, PAGE 4
Jewish Professor reflects on suspension one year later faculty send IU letter By Samantha Camire
board of his colleagues.
scamire@iu.edu | @CamireSamantha
The group voiced support for free speech after a threat from the Dept. of Ed By Chloe Oden
chloden@iu.edu | @chloeoden0
Thirty-eight present and former Jewish faculty at IU sent a letter to administration urging them to maintain freedom of speech on campus after the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights sent a letter threatening IU’s funding if it fails to stop antisemitism. “And we—unlike Gov. Braun or Education Secretary Linda McMahon—have known antisemitism firsthand,” the letter stated. “But we also know that our identities, both as Jewish Americans and as public university employees, require respect for free speech and tolerance of opposing viewpoints.” A press release from the education department March 10 said it sent letters to 60 universities under investigation, which will be at risk of losing the “privilege” of “enormous public investments funded by U.S. taxpayers” if they do not uphold Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and protect Jewish students from harassment and discrimination.
SEE FACULTY, PAGE 5
IU professor Abdulkader Sinno planned to spend the 2024-2025 school year on a sabbatical, focused on his research on Muslim minorities in politics in the West and conflicts in Afghanistan. Instead, he found himself spending much of the year in a fight with the university. “My research has suffered,” he said. “Because I was spending my time writing 25-page grievances and learning about laws and policies instead of actually focusing on writing books and articles.” The grievances were in protest of the real reason it's been over a full year since Sinno taught a class: his suspension from IU. In December 2023, the university suspended Sinno from teaching and advising for actions taken as club adviser of the Palestine Solidarity Committee. He immediately engaged in the grievance process against the university, but it didn’t change the fact that he was barred from doing what he loves most. “It was a terrible experience for me,” Sinno said. “And the reason is because this was a very important time for my students and the student organizations I advised.” The suspension cost him the ability to do everything he found most important, he said. Typically, he would have held events to help explain and contextualize the conflict for students and community members. But his suspension left him sidelined. “Being with my students and supporting students defines what I do and who I am,” he said. “That’s why I became a professor. It was a big part of the meaning of my
ANNABEL PROKOPY | IDS
Abdulkader Sinno is pictured March 22, 2025, in the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies in Bloomington. Sinno said he'll be back to teaching and advising in fall 2025 after the university suspended him last year.
life to be with my students and to help them and teach them. They took that away from me.” Sinno’s suspension In November 2023, Sinno submitted an online form to reserve a room in Woodburn Hall for an event co-sponsored by the Palestine Solidarity Committee, a student group that he advised. When Sinno submitted the form, he was told that listing the Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures Department as his department gave the impression that the event was university-sponsored. Sinno canceled the reservation and told the PSC to reserve the space via a student form instead. However, the PSC’s request was denied due to short notice and security concerns, according to emails shared with the IDS. The PSC believed that the denial was due to the speaker’s pro-Palestinian views, and they decided to hold the event anyway. On the day
of the event, Sinno received an email notifying him of a “conduct violation.” On Dec. 15, 2023, Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs Carrie Docherty suspended Sinno for both the spring and summer terms and prevented him from advising student organizations for one full year. Many faculty members denounced the actions taken by Docherty and IU. Fellow professor Jeffrey Isaac organized a faculty open letter in support of Sinno and published pieces defending him in local and national media. “I defended him because he is my colleague and my friend,” Isaac said in an email to the IDS. “But also because his suspension was wrong, and the administration’s handling of everything related to pro-Palestinian activism on campus was very wrong.” Ultimately, Bloomington faculty overwhelmingly passed a vote of no confi-
dence in IU President Pamela Whitten, Provost Rahul Shrivastav and Docherty in April 2024. While there were many reasons for the no confidence vote, many cited how their colleague Sinno had been treated. There were other concerns about the university's reaction to pro-Palestinian speech. Just five days after Sinno’s suspension, IU canceled a planned art show by Palestinian artist Samia Halaby. Halaby had been outspoken on social media about her pro-Palestinian beliefs. Her show was cancelled due to “concerns about guaranteeing the integrity of the exhibit,” according to IU spokesman Mark Bode. The Faculty Board of Review later found that Docherty violated IU policy by suspending Sinno without first referring him to the Faculty Misconduct Review Committee, where he would have had the chance to defend himself in front of a
‘They chose to silence me on purpose’ Sinno feels he was targeted for suspension because of his support of the PSC and desire to help students engage with the conflict on campus. “President Whitten and all the people she brought with her were chosen in a way that was completely disquieting by the Board of Trustees,” Sinno said. “And she understands that she has a mandate from them to control this community and not allow speech that the conservatives in Indiana don’t approve of.” What happened to him, Sinno said, was a warning to his colleagues. “If academic protections and academic freedom are withheld from one person or one faculty member,” he said, “It is withheld from all of them.” Sinno has been an associate professor of Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies at IU since 2010 and has written many books and articles on Muslim representation in politics and war in Afghanistan, making him well-versed on conflicts in the Middle East. “IU was hungry to understand the conflict in the Middle East, which is my specialty,” he said. “They chose to silence me on purpose because they don’t want people to learn about that.” Students missed out on more than just Sinno’s teaching. Many students he advised and taught looked up to him as a mentor. “He did his best to make me feel like I belonged at IU,” Miram Ali, a recent graduate who took Sinno’s “Politics in the Middle East” class, said.
SEE SUSPENSION, PAGE 4