A diversity and inclusion officer at the University of Maryland who was charged with running the institution’s antisemitism task force has a history of making statements accusing Israel of war crimes and genocide.
The statements by Jazmin Pichardo, the assistant director for diversity training and education at the University of Maryland Office of Diversity and Inclusion, come just months after a report by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, found that criticism of Israel on social media was common among university diversity staff.
Pichardo, who headed the university’s Jewish Identity Programming Advisory Committee, had made posts on social media saying that Israel is engaging in “settler colonialism” and “genocide and ethnic cleansing” against Palestine. She also accused the news media of “normalizing the state of Israel,” the Washington Free Beacon reported.
STUDY FINDS UNIVERSITY DIVERSITY OFFICIALS TEND TO CRITICIZE ISRAEL AND PRAISE CHINA
Pichardo’s social media posts drew the attention of a pair of UMD Jewish alumni who were invited to join the committee, the outlet added. But they said they felt disregarded after speaking to Pichardo. It is not clear if Pichardo, who identifies as a black Dominicana, is Jewish.
Diversity staff at universities have been increasingly under scrutiny over their role in promoting aspects of critical race theory on college campuses. A report by the conservative Heritage Foundation found that over 90% of tweets by university diversity staff that mentioned Israel were critical, while over 60% of tweets mentioning China were positive.
The Washington Free Beacon reported that Pichardo is a co-founder of Racial Equity Consulting Collective, which “is committed to fostering educational spaces rooted in community building and accountability towards a world free of systematic anti-Blackness, white supremacy, and oppression through critical dialogue.”
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A representative for the University of Maryland acknowledged in a statement that a social media post by a member of the committee had drawn concern and said that “she has decided to step away to avoid causing a distraction from its essential work.”
“After ongoing engagement with trusted peers and colleagues from our UMD Jewish community, the staff member acknowledges that the social media post used language that does not reflect her values and commitment to anti-oppression work,” the statement said.
Pichardo’s profile on the university’s diversity and inclusion staff page is one of only two that does not include contact information and the only one without a professional headshot.
