Ahead of the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King Lecture Series, Siena College has rescinded an invitation to one of the scheduled speakers due to "anti-Israel commentary."
Dr. Rupa Marya was slated to give a talk about racism in healthcare. Marya, a faculty member at University of California at San Francisco, was scheduled to deliver her speech titled "Decolonizing Medicine: Transforming our World Through Medicine, Activism, and Music." Her invitation was ultimately rescinded after a post on doctors who believe in Zionism.
"The presence of Zionism in US medicine should be examined as a structural impediment to health equity," read Marya's post on X.
"Since the onset of the conflict in the Middle East, Dr. Marya has actively engaged in anti-Israel commentary on her social media. She seems to dangerously conflate all Jewish people with a particular political ideology, as well as a racist trope – and that’s not only hurtful, it’s hateful," wrote Siena President Chuck Seifert in an email to students and faculty,
Marya's invitation to speak was formally rescinded on Wednesday.
“It would be antithetical to both its mission and our values to allow the MLK stage to be tarnished by rhetoric of divisiveness and hate. Regrettably, this year’s invited speaker has recently made troubling public statements that have crossed an intolerable line. Therefore, after careful consideration and extensive consultation, I have made the decision to rescind Dr. Rupa Marya’s invitation to speak on campus," Seifert wrote.