A state legislator sent University of North Texas leaders a letter on Sunday requesting the removal of an art exhibit in the Student Union, as well as the cancellation of an upcoming presentation by a history professor. The exhibit references the war in Gaza, while the presentation scheduled for later this week is titled “Palestinian Children and the Politics of Genocide.”
Freshman state Rep. Mitch Little, R-Lewisville, wrote the letter, which was signed by four other lawmakers who represent Denton County, because, he said, “These matters were brought to our attention on Sunday evening by roughly a hundred or more citizens who wrote to express their grave concern.”
Little bristled at the use of the word “genocide” in the title of the presentation that UNT history professor Nancy Stockdale is scheduled to give on April 3, which is the second annual installment in the Dr. Emile Saliyeh Commemorative Lecture on Middle Eastern Politics series. Stockdale is the associate dean of academic affairs for the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.
“Upon learning of this information, my immediate response is: When will your university wake up, stand up and address the reality of this antisemitic rhetoric and the people promoting it,” Little wrote. “While we understand that it is the mission of the University of North Texas to keep students informed of geopolitical issues and create an environment where free speech can thrive, you surely appreciate that this framing is not only inflammatory, but is also factually false with regard to the allegation of ‘genocide.’”
Little was joined in signing the letter by fellow Republican state Reps. Richard Hayes, Ben Bumgarner, Jared Patterson and Andy Hopper.
The letter requested that both requests be met in 48 hours, which would have been sometime Tuesday evening, though the letter didn’t specify a time.
The exhibit, “Perceptions: Observations & Reflections of the Western Muslim,” opened Feb. 24 in the Union Art Gallery, located on the second floor of the University Union. According to the gallery website, the show is supposed to close Thursday.
If the university complies with the request, the show would end one day early.
The Denton Record-Chronicle asked for comment from the College of Visual Arts and Design and from Stockdale. Neither had responded by Tuesday night.
The student artists behind “Perceptions,” Dania Bayan and Fatima Kubra, declined to comment on the request to remove the entire exhibit. As of Tuesday, the university hadn’t responded to the lawmakers’ request on its social media accounts or on the communications page of UNT President Harrison Keller’s website.
On Tuesday afternoon, a piece in the exhibit that had earned most of the criticism, titled I Bear Witness, appeared to have been removed from the show, while other pieces remained. The university didn’t respond to a question regarding the piece or the exhibit by Tuesday evening.
The Record-Chronicle obtained an email from UNT Vice President and Chief Integrity Officer Clay Simmons that was sent in response to a complaint about the exhibit.
“The university is aware that the exhibit contains work that some find disturbing and interpret as antisemitic — while others may find justified,” Simmons said. “A notice that the exhibit contains sensitive content has been posted.”
Simmons said UNT is prohibited from limiting speech or “expressive activities,” even if the university finds it objectionable and cited the First Amendment as a principal reason.
“Free inquiry and the free exchange of ideas allow individuals to challenge assumptions, and promote understanding, even in the face of disagreement,” Simmons said.
While several pieces were criticized by state leaders, Kubra’s I Bear Witness drew the most rebuke. The piece included a small stuffed bear swaddled in a Palestinian kaffiyeh lying on top of a sheer piece of material with messages in English, Hebrew and Arabic handwritten across it, evoking graffiti found in Gaza and on protest signs.
The piece is framed by the repeated phrase “made in resistance” and uses hashtags that have bloomed across social media, such as “#genocide,” “#silentholocaust,” and “from the river to the sea.” A replica of a bomb was hanging over the small stuffed bear.
UNT professor Timothy Jackson, who teaches music theory in the College of Music and in the UNT Jewish Studies program, was one of the critics of the exhibit on campus. Jackson shared an email he sent to StopAntisemitism, a grassroots watchdog organization that tracks reports of alleged antisemitism, posting photos and information about people it deems antisemitic.
Jackson said he saw the exhibit last Wednesday.
“I have never seen anything so shocking on the UNT campus,” Jackson said in his email to the organization. “I would not have believed this ‘exhibition’ of blatant Hamas propaganda in university space was possible. There is no clear statement from UNT — no unequivocal disclaimer — that this ‘exhibition’ does NOT represent the views of the university.”
In the email, Jackson said he saw a connection between the art and Stockdale’s scheduled presentation and was alarmed.
“Seeing is believing,” he wrote. “For this reason, I went there today and took some photos of myself with the ‘art,’ which is really pro-Hamas graffiti. There does seem to be a connection between Stockdale’s false claim of ‘Genocide’ and the art on display in the Student Union since both — tendentiously — claim that women and children are being deliberately targeted by Israel in its war against Hamas. I cannot believe that a UNT administrator — an ‘Administrative Dean for Academic Affairs’ — is publicly endorsing such Hamas propaganda.”
Little said the university’s “ongoing tolerance for this rhetoric” calls into question its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which forbids the use of public funding that “encourages, entrenches, subsidizes or results in racial [color or national origin] discrimination.” Little also said the university could be in violation of Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order to include antisemitism in public university free speech policies.
LUCINDA BREEDING-GONZALES can be reached at 940-566-6877 and cbreeding@dentonrc.com.
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