The president of City University of New York (CUNY)'s Graduate Center announced her retirement just weeks after playing an instrumental role in hiring a prominent anti-Israel professor to teach at the school.
Robin Garrell, who served as CUNY’s Graduate Center president for three years, is stepping down from her role, according to a statement from the school’s Chancellor.
“CUNY will appoint an interim president in the coming weeks and launch a national search for her successor in the near future,” Chancellor Matos Rodriguez said in a statement.
“In the meantime, we congratulate President Garrell on her accomplishments, thank her for her service to the Graduate Center and CUNY, and wish her well in her future endeavors,” Rodriguez added.
CUNY has been plagued by numerous antisemitic scandals in recent years, including discriminating against faculty who are Shabbat-observant, fostering a vehemently anti-Zionist atmosphere on campus, and senior officials praising two consecutive years of commencement speeches featuring virulently antisemitic rhetoric.
The latest incident at CUNY sparking backlash from the Jewish community was the institution’s decision to hire Marc Lamont Hill, who called for a “free Palestine from the river to the sea” and claimed that Israel was responsible for alleged U.S. police brutality against black Americans.
It’s unclear if Garrell’s departure is related to Hill’s hiring, but the announcement was welcomed by many who were critical of her choice to recruit the outspokenly anti-Zionist professor.
“This is wonderful news,” former state Assemblyman Dov Hikind said in a media statement.
“The ouster of the CUNY Graduate Center president sends a powerful message to CUNY campus officials to stop hiring Jew haters.”
Hill has publicly denied that he is antisemitic, despite repeatedly making remarks against Israel and Jews. In 2019, the academic said that American media outlets are controlled by Zionists.