San Diego State University officials are assessing how to move forward following a late Wednesday protest that involved dozens of students surrounding President Elliot Hirshman and preventing him from leaving campus for about two hours.

The protest was in response to an e-mail Hirshman and Vice President of Student Affairs Eric Rivera sent out addressing fliers on campus that identified certain students as supporters of terrorism. Critics said the administration response was inadequate, and the protest eventually was defused after Hirshman said he was sorry if he had inadvertently upset or hurt people.

SDSU spokesman Greg Block said a Thursday morning staff meeting included a discussion about how the incident was handled. Hirshman also talked having future meetings with student leaders to address issues involved in the incident, but nothing has been scheduled yet, Block said.

Another protest is likely on campus next Thursday when conservative activist David Horowitz, who was behind the fliers that triggered the protest, is scheduled to appear as a guest of the San Diego State College Republicans.


Fliers were posted on campus at San Diego State University a few weeks ago, identifying some students as allies of terrorists against Israel. Students protested Wednesday against President Elliot Hirshman’s response to the fliers. ( / Osama Alkhawaja)

The fliers surfaced two weeks ago naming seven students and claimed they “have allied themselves with Palestinian terrorists to perpetrate” hatred against Jewish students on campus. The website for the David Horowitz Freedom Center appears at the bottom of the fliers.

The website StopTheJewHatredOnCampus.org has a copy of the fliers distributed at SDSU and similar ones that named students at UC Santa Barbara, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz and UCLA.

Protest participant Osama Alkhawaja, 22, was among the students named on the flier.


“We wanted the president to come to our defense as students,” Alkhawaja said during the demonstration Wednesday.

In a statement issued Tuesday, Hirshman and Rivera stated that while the university supports free speech, it questioned whether naming students who are against a certain viewpoint could discourage them from taking part in political discussions.

“We raise these issues to strengthen our tradition of vibrant discourse about ideas and issues and encourage all members of our community to participate in these discussions,” the statement read in part.

Wednesday’s incident began with a silent protest during the afternoon swearing-in ceremony of new Associated Student officers.


After Hirshman left the ceremony at about 4:45 p.m., he was followed by some students from the meeting. The university president was escorted by a campus police officer who walked him to a police car to drive him to his own vehicle.

Several students surrounded the vehicle once Hirshman stepped inside.

“My friends are not terrorist, and if their names are being posted around campus that’s an issue of security,” said student Jeanette Corona, 23, who participated in the protest. “No student should be demonized. ... It’s (Hirshman’s) job to ensure the safety of all students on this campus.”

Corona said she knew students were eager to speak to Hirshman. She was among the first who surrounded the police vehicle and prevented it from leaving.


“I stood in front of the car — people were standing on the side — and I told everyone, ‘Join me. Please don’t leave me alone. Stand your ground. Link up. Hold hands,’” she said.

× SDSU students protest against ‘terrorism’ fliers

As Hirshman sat in the car, students chanted, “Hirshman, Hirshman, come on out. We have something to talk about.”

After nearly an hour, Hirshman got out of the vehicle and talked to some students. Members of the administration offered to set up a meeting between several students and the president.


“We said, ‘Listen, there’s no way all these students are gonna leave just because you’re gonna meet with me. The only thing that will get these students to leave is a public admission that you’re sorry for the way that you’ve treated them,’” Alkhawaja said.

The students eventually got what many wanted.

“If we have done things inadvertently that have upset or hurt people, we are sorry for that,” Hirshman told students.

“It definitely feels like a victory,” Alkhawaja said. “For all the students that put in so many hours trying to get the administration to listen to us, we feel like at least we got something: a public apology.”


1 / 14 San Diego State students students, upset at the SDSU president’s response to recent anti Muslim fliers, surround the SDSU president in an effort to discuss the matter with him. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 2 / 14 San Diego State student Osama Alkhawaja, gesturing, whose name was on a flier saying he was a terrorist, and SDSU president Dr. Elliot Hirshman, left, have a conversation. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 3 / 14 San Diego State students hold a sign as they and other students surround the SDSU president. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 4 / 14 San Diego State students put up a sign as other students surround the SDSU president. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 5 / 14 San Diego State students put up a sign as other students surround the SDSU president, lower right. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 6 / 14 A student holds a sign against SDSU president Elliot Hirshman as others surround Hirshman. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 7 / 14 San Diego policeman stand nearby a protest by students upset about the SDSU president’s response to anti Muslim flier. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 8 / 14 San Diego State student Osama Alkhawaja, right, whose name was on a flier saying he was a terrorist, and SDSU president Dr. Elliot Hirshman cordially finish their conversation. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 9 / 14 San Diego State president Elliot Hirshman, front center, is escorted away. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 10 / 14 San Diego State students protesting the SDSU president’s response to anti Muslim fliers, cheer after the students surrounded the president and had a conversation with him. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 11 / 14 Hamif Mohebi, the executive director of the San Diego office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, speaks to students protesting the SDSU president’s response to anti Muslim fliers. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 12 / 14 A pair of students protesting the SDSU president’s response to anti Muslim fliers, listen to Hamif Mohebi, the executive director of the San Diego office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, speak. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 13 / 14 Hamif Mohebi, the executive director of the San Diego office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, speaks to students protesting the SDSU president’s response to anti Muslim fliers. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 14 / 14 San Diego State student Osama Alkhawaja talks to a crowd of students after he and SDSU president Dr. Elliot Hirshman had a discussion. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Alkhawaja and the other students named in the posters were targeted for supporting the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement, which calls for divestment from Israel.

Last year, a number of student groups at SDSU rallied behind a resolution that called for the Campanile Foundation, which manages SDSU donations, to stop investing in companies that have a stake in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according the university’s newspaper, The Daily Aztec. Among those groups were Muslim Students Association, Students for Justice in Palestine, Women’s Outreach Association, Queer Student Union.

Those against the change said the resolution would contribute to a larger hate movement that calls for the destruction of the only democracy in the Middle East. Students Supporting Israel, the Jewish Student Union and Young Americans for Liberty were against the resolution.


Ultimately, the resolution was supported by nearly 53 percent of students who voted, short of the two-thirds majority needed for it to pass.

Since then, students involved in the movement against Israel have been repeatedly harassed, Alkhawaja said.

Jordan Dennison, chairman of the student group College Republicans, said some students are passionate about certain issues, but overall the campus atmosphere is cordial.

“A member from the SSI (Students Supporting Israel) can walk past someone from SJP (Students for Justice in Palestine), and it’s not a big thing,” said Dennison, 21, a political science major.


Dennison said the club invited Horrowitz to speak at the school next Thursday, and the invitation was made before the fliers were distributed.

Jackie Tolley, director of the Jewish student group Hillel of San Diego at SDSU, also described the campus atmosphere as peaceful.

“That’s not to say, however, that there aren’t times when tensions get to be very heated,” she said.

Hillel issued a brief statement Thursday condemning the fliers: “Hillel is committed to creating a campus climate where all feel safe and secure, where diversity is celebrated, and where political differences are communicated civilly and respectfully,” the statement read.