Group pushes racism inquiry

Hillel Foundation of Orange County may have dropped its investigation into anti-Semitism at UC Irvine, but the task force the organization assigned to do the job is pledging to continue the inquiry.

“We’ve invested so much and learned so much that we feel obligated to go ahead with the report,” said Jesse Rosenblum, the task force’s chairman.

Hillel created the task force in February after several clashes between Jewish and Muslim students over the years that were sparked by various controversial speakers and protests.

The Hillel board of directors dropped the investigation over the summer without the task force’s input.

“I was surprised and shocked,” Rosenblum said.

The task force continues to interview students and faculty for the report, which is scheduled to be released by year’s end.

Rosenblum describes the task force as a “core group” of about five, which includes an attorney, a UCI professor, two community members and Rosenblum. They have interviewed 10 to 15 people so far with more scheduled in the coming weeks, including a rabbi at a local temple, he said.

“I received a call from Hillel indicating that they were thinking of backing away from the task force,” Rosenblum recalled. “They said something like ‘Well, it’s not part of our core, not part of our mission, that type of thing.”

In fact, after Hillel had initiated the investigation the foundation’s board of directors had its annual meeting where members evaluate the organization’s mission and projects. The board refocused the organization’s mission on Jewish life, learning and spirituality, said Jeffrey Rips, executive director for Hillel’s Orange County branch.

While the investigation is important, it does not jibe with the organization’s future plans, he said.

Hillel’s mission is “to enrich the lives of Jewish undergraduate and graduate students so that they may enrich the Jewish people and the world.”

Rosenblum said their investigation fits into that.

“Nothing is more important to their mission than to have this type of investigation and this type of report for Jewish and non-Jewish students on campus,” he said.

“Nothing has really changed. We’re glad they’re moving forward,” Rips said. “It’s like everybody’s getting that cake and eating it too.”

Rosenblum agrees, saying Hillel’s contribution to the inquiry was negligible.

“It was more a Hillel-supported task force rather than a Hillel task force.”

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at joseph.serna@latimes.com.