The University of Minnesota announced on Nov. 25 that GerShun Avilez is the new Dean of the University’s College of Liberal Arts (CLA). Avilez replaced interim Dean Ann Waltner, who filled in after John Coleman stepped down in April 2023.
Before arriving at the University, Avilez served as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Arts & Humanities and professor of English at the University of Maryland. Avilez is also an award-winning author and scholar in the field of cultural studies.
Avilez said he envisioned building a stronger community around CLA during his presentation to the University in April, where he and three other candidates held open meetings to discuss their possible visions for the University if they were elected. Avilez said that by supplying well-qualified candidates and resources to help strengthen the relationships between disciplines within the college, the college itself can become a greater resource for the University and the Minnesotan community.
“We don’t always think about the college or all of our units as having a function on campus,” Avilez said during his presentation. “Maybe people turn to other colleges first, but I think we could turn to the College of Liberal Arts first to do that work. That’s the challenge I want us to think about.”
In an email sent to CLA undergraduate students on Dec. 9, Avilez said he was honored to serve as the new dean of the College of Liberal Arts.
“Though I am just beginning my journey at CLA, I am already inspired by the vibrancy of this community—your intellectual curiosity, creativity, and commitment to making a difference in the world,” Avilez said in the email.
Hope
Jan 10, 2025 at 7:07 am
I’m hardly a simpleton. I’m just an adult who is capable of seeing and naming reality.
KG
Jan 8, 2025 at 5:44 pm
Hope, on October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists crossed the Gaza border into Israel, killing hundreds of young people at a music festival and destroying Israeli border villages. The massacre was indiscriminate, and Hamas’s actions constitute genocide. This war was initiated by Hamas, which has also used its own Palestinian people as human shields, further exacerbating the loss of life and destruction in Gaza. As of today, the bodies of two Arab Israeli citizens—non-Jews—were repatriated by the Israeli army, while nearly 100 hostages remain in Gaza.
At UMN, GWSS propagates a debunked settler-colonialist narrative that aligns with Hamas-enabling ideologies. Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP) undermines the university’s mission of impartial teaching and research by promoting Islamism in the classroom. GWSS may be beyond repair, and, like the University of Iowa’s decision, disbandment should be considered.
FJP fosters unrest and antisemitism on campus. For instance, no Palestinian or FJP faculty faced consequences for the Morrill Hall takeover—only Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) useful idiots bore the brunt. FJP and their allies are content to avoid accountability, leaving others to face repercussions.
Oct 7th
Jan 8, 2025 at 4:32 pm
Hope, I guess you think Oct 7th was just fine. You simpleton.
Hope
Jan 8, 2025 at 9:17 am
Wow, look how quickly the toddlers run in to stamp their feet! Pointing fingers at everyone but the actual perpetrators makes you look even more childish. Just come out and admit you don’t mind all the death and destruction.
KG
Jan 7, 2025 at 5:23 pm
Commenter Hope: yes, GWSS is a striking example of rabidly anti-Israel propaganda masquerading as academic “critical thinking.” Shockingly, ALL the tenured faculty in this department signed the infamous October-November 2023 GWSS statement on Palestine. Sima Shakhsari, a member of Faculty for Justice in Palestine (called FLAGSJP here at UMN) and a non-binary academic, knows well that Israel is the safest place in the Middle East for LGBTQ+. But, you won’t hear that from Shakhsari. Shakhsari works harder hypocritically demonizing Israel and promoting extremist, pro-Palestinian demonstrations than in the classroom. Jewish and pro-Israel students know to stay away from GWSS. American Indian Studies is another unfortunate example. They issued their own extremist pro-Palestinian statement in December 2023. We all saw how Cunningham was received at her inauguration ceremony this summer. Furthermore, CLA Assistant Dean Michael Gallope, also an FJP member, is still working hard to ram through extremist pro-Palestinian hires at UMN, as he tried to do with the UMN Holocaust Center head.
So, it’s not surprising that UMN ranks among the top ten worst schools for anti-Zionist faculty influence, according to AMCHA Initiative’s Anti-Zionist Faculty Barometer (December 2024), which covered 700 colleges and universities. Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP), a key factor in these rankings, is linked to significant increases in antisemitic incidents, including physical assaults and threats against Jewish students. AMCHA’s research highlights that campuses with FJP chapters experience prolonged anti-Israel protests and a higher likelihood of academic boycott calls. At UMN, we remember last year’s demonstrations, mall occupation, and shooting out Hillel’s windows in June. Intimidation and threats against Jews in and around the UMN campus (especially Hillel) have continued. And the Morrill Hall occupation this year is still fresh.
GerShun Avilez, your urgent attention is required: At UMN, FJP faculty and their influence perpetuate a hostile environment for Jewish students. There is an urgent need for administrative safeguards and policy measures to counter faculty-led antisemitism and politically motivated activism on campus.
No hope
Jan 7, 2025 at 3:03 pm
All GWSS are trained in critical thinking…..except when it does not agree with their preconceived ones. Get real.
Hope
Jan 6, 2025 at 9:43 am
Leave the breath holding to toddlers in a tantrum.
You’re unlikely to find supporters for “Democratic Israel” in GWSS because actual adults trained in critical thinking work there.
Oh, KG – check your hemline, your bias is showing (again).
We can hope.
Dec 31, 2024 at 3:59 pm
KG, I agree with your thoughts. However, don’t hold your breath on that opportunity for “academic rigor and balance.” GWSS is about to get a big boost.
KG
Dec 23, 2024 at 2:04 am
GerShun Avilez’s appointment as CLA Dean is a promising development, offering an opportunity for meaningful change at UMN. Unfortunately, many CLA departments have become platforms for extremist academics and their political agendas. Hamas’ October 7, 2023, genocidal massacre against Israel and the positions taken by UMN departments in response, highlight how academic teaching has become increasingly biased.
Avilez has written about queer freedom, making UMN’s Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies (GWSS) program a relevant example. Students in GWSS are taught that white settler-colonialism applies to Israel-Palestine. However, this narrative is historically inaccurate. The Jewish people have maintained a continuous presence in Israel-Palestine, even after expulsion by the Romans. Jewish communities persisted through numerous conquests, as documented in sources like Benjamin of Tudela’s 12th-century travelogue and the 1937 British Peel Commission, which estimated 15,000 Jews in the region in 1850—long before the term “Palestinians” was used. In truth, the Jewish people are the indigenous population of Israel, whose land was colonized by others.
In GWSS, students are taught to attribute Palestinian society’s challenges—including issues affecting LGBTQ+ individuals, women, and children—to Israel. This too is false. Democratic Israel is the safest place in the Middle East for LGBTQ+ individuals, offering asylum to Palestinians who face continuous persecution by their own communities and leaders in Gaza or the Palestinian Authority. Even the main Palestinian sexual and gender diversity group, alQaws, relocated itself to Israel because of its safety concerns.
As for the rights of women and children in Palestinian society, the statistics reveal a situation not expressed in GWSS. According to UNRWA, by the end of 2015, 23.7% of the married population in Gaza had been married before the age of 18—a clear case of child marriage. Has UMN GWSS ever demonstrated for the rights of Palestinian girls forced into child marriage? The reality is that Palestinian society faces challenges common to other Arab societies in the Middle East, with similar statistics. Israel is not the cause of these issues.
Dean Avilez, your leadership presents an opportunity to promote academic rigor and balance and to apply a much-needed corrective to GWSS’ hypocrisy.
TA
Dec 16, 2024 at 5:23 pm
Brave and important!!
Greg
Dec 14, 2024 at 10:34 am
The article forgot to mention that Dr. Avilez is the author of two books: “Radical Aesthetics and Modern Black Nationalism,” and Black Queer Freedom: Spaces of Injury and Paths of Desire.”
Michael P Hyland
Dec 14, 2024 at 1:26 am
As an Educator for most of the 60 years of my adult life with with a BA in Classical Philosophy, and MAs in Educ/Psych. I have come to the conclusion the we need to return to and reexamine the fundamental roots and foundations of our Judeo/Christian Western Civilization, and appreciate the values and principles and ideals of Virtue and Character they espouse for the Service of the common good. And the primary role of a healthy Marriage and the Family to foster and nurture these essential traits in each unique individual.