(WASHINGTON D.C., 3/16/2022) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today said that it has called on the Georgetown University Law Center (GULC) in Washington, D.C., to investigate student complaints of Islamophobic actions by a law professor and to take appropriate action in response to those complaints.
In a letter to GULC Executive Vice President, Dean William Treanor, CAIR spokesperson Zainab Chaudry wrote in part:
“Recently, CAIR learned of allegations against Georgetown Law Professor Susan Deller Ross whose alleged Islamophobic and racist behavior has reportedly compromised the integrity of International Women’s Human Rights Clinic (IWHRC) and the International and Comparative Law on Women’s Human Rights course, and subsequently led to a hostile learning environment for diverse students at your campus.
“CAIR has received meticulously detailed complaints of an alleged long-standing, documented pattern of behaviors, assignments and rhetoric that has mischaracterized or maligned Muslims and other groups, and has perpetuated harmful untruths and stereotypes. A sign-on letter circulated by Law Center students seeking action has collected 300+ signatures urging change.
“A non-exhaustive list of examples of Professor Ross’ alleged rhetoric and misconduct provided to CAIR include:
• Writing and administering Islamophobic exams that prompted students to advocate for hijab bans by providing legal arguments justifying the unveiling of Muslim women and girls and stripping their religious freedoms.
• Describing the hijab in model student exams as being a device that inherently subordinates women to men and impedes their physical movement.
• Asking students to advocate for the Hindutva Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), an extremist right-wing organization responsible for egregious human rights violations, including the mass murder and lynching of Muslims in India and Indian-occupied Kashmir, with no opportunity to argue against this position and with high scores allegedly given to exams that argue Islamic practices are equivalent to human rights violations. This has reportedly particularly adversely impacted Law Center students who have had family members murdered by the BJP.
• Encouraging Islamophobic themes in course material and class discussions that, according to student testimonials, create a discriminatory environment that particularly impedes learning outcomes for select students.
• Employing tokenization and discriminatory classroom practices such as reportedly having minority students act out stereotypical scenarios of human rights abuses based on their ethnicity.
• Using Law Center resources to allegedly contribute to Islamophobic discourse that mischaracterizes Islam as devoid of human rights and contributes to the oppression of Muslim women. Examples of this include a publicly circulated Kenya report where Professor Ross reportedly stated, “Muslim women are given different and lesser rights than similarly situated Christian women, precisely because of their husband’s identity as Muslim.
“Faculty have the right to critically analyze and criticize laws in any country – including Muslim majority nations. However, I hope you will agree that crossing the line of reasonable discussion and debate, perpetuating harmful falsehoods, distorting the faith of 1.5 billion people, and creating a potentially traumatizing learning experience for any student is unacceptable and must be appropriately addressed.”
Georgetown University Law Center’s Muslim Law Students Association said in a statement:
“Ignoring or being passive about these issues we know is a cost too great to bear. Professor Ross’s negative stereotypes and orientalist conceptions of Islam, Muslims, and African countries within the human rights framework perpetuates a dangerous trope of white saviorism that feeds into a culture of hate crimes against Muslims and historically harmful policies like the #MuslimBan and War on Terror. At best, silence is neutrality. Without these necessary steps, however, it is violence. It is to say to Muslim law students: we see you, we hear you, but we will not stand with you while the crux of your identity is under attack.”
CAIR is urging GULC to conduct “a prompt, thorough investigation into the concerns and complaints,” publicly “denounce Islamophobia, reaffirm the university’s commitment to ensuring a safe and welcoming environment for Muslim students, take “appropriate action to address Professor Ross’ conduct,” “establish a safe and welcoming environment for students,” and offer “cultural competency training on Islam and Muslims to Law Center faculty and staff.”
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR Office in Maryland Director Zainab Chaudry, [email protected], 410-971-6062; CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, [email protected]; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Coordinator Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, [email protected]