Pitzer Professor Gives Opinion on 'Cockroach' Incident

The results of an investigation by Claremont McKenna College that found that one of its professors was unprofessional, but not in violation of any of the school’s policies when he called a student a cockroach, is a “materially misleading document that blames the victims” for the incident, according to Daniel Segal, a professor at a neighboring Pitzer College.

“Moreover, in blaming the victims, the CMC report fails to acknowledge that the SJP (Students for Justice in Palestine) students were subjected to a verbal, dehumanizing attack by a professor, and that this attack, and the professor’s attempt to impose restrictions on the location of their protest, were attacks on the speech rights of these activist students,” according to a statement published by Claremont Port Side, a student publication.

Segal, a professor of Anthropology and History and director of the Pitzer College’s Munroe Center for Social Inquiry, has been advising the student who has been identified as Najib Hamideh, according to the student publication. Hamideh is Palestinian. The professor, Yaron Raviv, is Isreali and an associate professor of economics at CMC.

Segal has been vocal about the March 4 incident and took part in at least one demonstration aimed at bringing attention to it.

The incident began with a “street theater” demonstration that simulated passing through an Israeli Defense Forces checkpoint near the Collins Dining Hall, according to the Claremont chapter of SJP.

The university determined the demonstration was “impeding access to the main entrance of Collins Dining Hall,” a violation of Claremont McKenna and the Claremont Colleges’ demonstrations policy, officials wrote.

According to the report, the incident escalated when Raviv went to observe the event at the behest of concerned students when Hamideh, a member of the SJP group, engaged Raviv and the discussion devolved.

Raviv heard the student say that he would “hunt you down,” a statement the student denies, according to the report. In response, the student reported Raviv called him a “f***ing cockroach” and “You are all cockroaches” and referred to Pitzer College students as “cockroaches.”