Above: SAU President Amy Novak meets with SAU Political Science major Michael Tappa for a Buzz interview on the war’s impact on college campuses. Photo courtesy of Michael Tappa.

The Hamas terrorist attacks of Oct. 7 did more than provoke a war with Israel.

The brutal conflict also has sparked contentious debate, fierce protests, and violent attacks on both Jewish and Muslim faiths in America.

College campuses across the country have been on the front lines of some of these battles.

According to the political publication The Hill, more than 100 college presidents condemned the attacks as part of a multi-faith coalition and have come out in support of Israel.

However, the Jewish state’s all-out assault on the Gaza Strip has killed thousands of innocent civilians in the crossfire creating a glaring humanitarian crisis.

St. Ambrose University President Dr. Amy Novak was among the higher-education leaders speaking out against the violence with a letter to the campus community on Oct. 11.

Dr. Novak did not pick a side in the conflict as others have done, though, deciding instead to join Pope Francis in calling for peace.

“I’ve had many alumni reach out and ask why I didn’t make a more definitive statement, whether in terms of condemning the actions of one party or declaring solidarity with a particular party,”

Dr. Novak said in a recent interview with SAU political science major and Buzz newspaper reporter, Michael Tappa.

“I have made a point of reaching out to each of the alumni who have contacted me to engage them in discussion, in part because I believe that there is a richness and a complexity that can emerge in a discussion that simply cannot be achieved in two paragraphs.”

“When I speak with them, I emphasize that a central role of the university is to ensure the flourishing of discussion and engagement with ideas. We want all members of the University community to cultivate their moral courage, their judgment, and their conscience.”

Dr. Novak cited widespread concern by SAU students, faculty, and staff as her reasoning behind the call for peace. She emphasized the need to engage in open dialogue, expressing concerns that a university president taking a definitive stance could stifle diverse opinions.

“None of this is to say that I do not have deep, personal feelings about this conflict,” she said. “But I believe that my role, first and foremost as a university president, should be to honor one of the central purposes of the university—to sustain a space where people with differing opinions and beliefs can come together and seek understanding and common ground—rather than simply to assume that my personal beliefs should somehow represent those of the University.”

“When a president comes out and makes a statement that aligns strongly with one side or the other, I think, in many respects, it risks being understood as a statement of orthodoxy. How should an eighteen-year old student respond when the University President—or other University leader—suggests the “correct” position on an issue?”

“What I was attempting to do with my initial statement was really just help everyone appreciate that this is a very complex issue and there is a great deal of hurt and woundedness on all sides.”

While acknowledging the horrific violence in the conflict, Dr. Novak remained firm against taking a side, emphasizing the importance of civil debate on campus.

“As a university leader, one of the things on which we stand firm is that the university ought to remain a space where dialogue among competing ideas and differing perspectives can be undertaken. Where competing ideas can be discussed, shared, and debated in a civil fashion—in a manner in which we, as St. Ambrose of Milan put it, “will the good of the other,” which is to say, we appreciate and acknowledge our common humanity, despite our differing perspectives,” she said.

Dr. Novak expressed concern about the polarization the conflict has caused.

“I’m mindful that there are real lives in the middle of all of this and that we want to be very careful about not fostering a culture on this campus that would be either anti-Semitic or Islamophobic,” she added, noting there have been no reports of students feeling threatened or worse.

“I’m very mindful that we have had students who may have family members or relatives that are connected in some way to both sides. And so, I’m certainly sensitive to the kind of hurt that I think they’re feeling and to the sense of just loss that both sides might be feeling in this particular case. So, in all of these cases, we try and reach out and support those students as best we can.”

While SAU has yet to see any protests like some college campuses, Dr. Novak added she supports the right to protest, if one were to take place on campus grounds, but emphasized the need to adhere to campus policies.

“I believe that, when you protest, it’s one thing to advocate for a cause, or to draw attention to injustice” she said. “It’s another thing entirely to target a particular person or group. And, while these are difficult and fraught conversations, at some point we have to determine where the line is that divides academic freedom and freedom of speech from hate speech and speech that seeks to incite violence.”

In the most extreme cases, protesting students have been targeted with physical harm and/or doxing attacks, to which she added, “I’m not sure we solve violence with violence.” 

In the Oct. 11 letter, Dr. Novak directed any members of the campus community affected by the conflict to seek university support, including at Christ the King chapel.

“This Is about the human dignity of people in our world” she said. “This is a part of the world that has significant implications for our country, our safety, and our well-being.”

“I think that, as a nation, when we’re buying and selling goods in various parts of the world, and that we find ourselves connected to a variety of different places around the world, whether we are inclined to think in these terms or not. On top of that, we know that the U.S. has had a significant role in shaping Palestinian-Israeli relations over the years.”

“That said, there are lot of layers to this, so it’s important for our students approach these sorts of issues with humility, seeking understanding. How did we get to this place? Are there things that we can learn from our past? Maybe things that we have done? Things that we should have done? Things that we should not have done? There is a complicated history that has brought us to this particular point, and we have an obligation to try and understand that history.”

She concluded, “When events like this occur, I think it underscores that our students absolutely have an obligation to have a global mindset about the world.” 

Michael Tappa is a staff writer for The Buzz.