The New York Times on Thursday reported on growing uproar over a question at a UCLA student council meeting last month in which a Jewish student running for the college Judicial Board was asked about her background.
A fellow student questioned sophomore Rachel Beyda about how she would decide on certain issues were she elected to the body, mentioning her Jewish identity, television station KCAL reported last week.
The Feb. 10 exchange was captured on video, which included several patches of inaudible dialogue.
“Given that you are a Jewish student and very active in the Jewish community … given that recently … [inaudible] has been surrounding cases of conflict of interest, how do you see yourself being able to maintain an unbiased view … [inaudible]?” the local station quoted student Fabienne Roth as saying.
The New York Times quoted Roth as follows in an article published on Thursday, citing the video and minutes from the meeting:
“Given that you are a Jewish student and very active in the Jewish community,” Fabienne Roth, a member of the Undergraduate Students Association Council, began, looking at Ms. Beyda at the other end of the room, “how do you see yourself being able to maintain an unbiased view?”
Avinoam Baral, president of the student council, spoke out against the question at the meeting. “The discussion was really discriminatory in nature. I had to step in and say my peace,” he told KCAL9.
Beyda was eventually voted in. The New York times reported that the four students who opposed her election wrote a letter of apology to the campus newspaper.
Roth told the Times that she regretted the way she phrased the question.
“I have already apologized profusely for what happened during our council meeting and I deeply regret how I phrased my questions to Rachel,” she told the paper.
Several students told the New York Times that a recent Board resolution supporting the Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions movement — to place various types of pressure on Israel — was the subtext of Roth’s question.
Watch the video of the remarks below:
This post has been updated.
