OSU investigating professor’s ‘Jewing down’ comment | Local News

Jewish organizations at The Ohio State University in Columbus and across the state have condemned statements made by an OSU professor, who referred to “Jewing down” people as a “way of the world” in Mexico, and then used the phrase “Jew us down” a second time in her Oct. 18 lecture.

The professor, Jackie Buell, a member of the school of health & rehabilitation sciences, made the remarks in a nutrition and fitness class.

In a Dec. 15 national news story, Dan Abrams of NewsNation Now reported about Buell’s remarks and featured video footage of the incident.

“Anybody been to Mexico?” Buell said in the video shown on Abrams’ show. “You know, I mean, Jewing down is a way of the world down there, right? You want to buy a blanket and (it) has $5 on it, and you say, ‘I’ll give you $2 for it.’ They say, ‘No.’ You just start walking away. They say ‘Three dollar,’ right? They just want to get what they can out of it. But now they come to this country. We get people that come in the market all the time that want to Jew us down on the vegetables, right?”

Abrams reported that Buell emailed an apology to the class. In it, Buell said she never meant for her language in class “to be offensive to any particular group. I have never associated the word ‘Jew’ with any particular person or group. And I’m sorry to have offended anyone,” according to the report.

Multiple attempts to reach Buell were unsuccessful.

The university confirmed to the CJN it is investigating Buell.

“Jackie Buell is employed by The Ohio State University as an assistant professor,” Serena Smith, senior consultant of public affairs and media relations for OSU’s Wexner Medical Center marketing and strategic communications, wrote in a Dec. 17 email to the CJN. “This matter is under investigation and we cannot comment on specifics. The university is committed to preventing and responding to all forms of discrimination.”

Buell’s comments were condemned by Jewish organizations.

“OSU Hillel condemns the recent antisemitic and anti-Mexican comments made by an assistant professor at The Ohio State University,” OSU Hillel’s statement reads. “No Buckeye should have to feel discriminated against because of their background. If you are a student who feels unsafe or has been a target of antisemitism do not hesitate to contact Hillel immediately. We are committed to you and keeping OSU the safe school it has been for generations of Jewish students.”

OSU also briefed Hillel about the steps it is taking, according to Hillel’s Dec. 19 post on Facebook.

Sarah Deitsch, operations director at OSU Chabad, said her organization does not want Buell to be fired. She said she received more than 20 emails, texts and personal messages on Facebook and Instagram from students, parents of students and alumni after Buell’s remarks were made public.

“We believe that this is a teaching moment,” Deitsch told the CJN Dec. 20. “And that she said it out of ignorance. She should learn from her mistake. She should apologize to all the Jewish students at Ohio State University and to the Jewish community. But I don’t think that … having her fired is our goal.”

Levi Andrusier, executive director of OSU Chabad, told the CJN Dec. 20 he reached out to both OSU President Kristina Johnson and Buell to invite them to a Shabbat dinner at Schottenstein Chabad House at OSU.

In his email to Johnson, Andrusier wrote, “On behalf of everyone at the Schottenstein Chabad House at OSU, I need to convey my utter dismay at having a professor on staff at The Ohio State University plainly using this very derogatory term to describe ‘hard’ bargaining negotiations. As you can imagine, this is causing many within the OSU community, as well as the larger Jewish community in Columbus, much distress and consternation. To have this term thrown about nowadays, and specifically at our esteemed academic institution, is something which clearly needs to be addressed.

“This is all the more worrying considering the recent uptick of antisemitism in general, which is something the Jewish community is very concerned about,” Andrusier wrote. “Gov. (Mike) DeWine recently addressed this concern for universities in the state of Ohio, to ensure the safety and well-being of Jewish students.

“Dr. Johnson, I would appreciate hearing your thoughts on this issue, and how to go about ensuring this doesn’t occur again. Furthermore, Jewish students at OSU may need to hear some reassurance about how the university intends to address antisemitism in general, as well as language usage which propagates antisemitism, whether intentional or not.”

JewishColumbus condemned the remarks in a Dec. 20 post on Facebook.

“JewishColumbus is aware and strongly condemns the antisemitic and racist comments made by an assistant professor at The Ohio State University,” the post reads. “In partnership with OSU Hillel and ADL Cleveland, we have been in contact with university leadership. We have confidence in OSU’s investigation currently underway. We know this is not a true representation of the welcoming and inclusive culture Ohio State strives to uphold. We stand with the Buckeye community and encourage anyone who feels they have been a target of antisemitism to reach out to JewishColumbus.”

Justin Shaw, senior director of community relations for JewishColumbus, told the CJN, “We were shocked by the comments made by the professor and we do hope that she’ll learn from this and understand the power of words.”

Shaw said JewishColumbus will await the results of the investigation.

“We feel the university is taking this matter seriously,” he said Dec. 20.

James Pasch, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League in Cleveland, who was a guest on Abrams’ show addressing the issue, said he first reached out to the director of OSU’s Hillel.

“I view my role and ADL’s role is to work with the Jewish organizations on campus,” he told the CJN Dec. 20. “The university has launched … an investigation.”

He said he supports the university looking into the statements and did not want to speculate about what should happen based on his narrow view of the video clip, which calls for “significant education” and “learning experience.”