Mira Gurock (26B), former vice president of budgets for Emory University’s College Council, submitted a letter on Sept. 14 withdrawing her appeal against her recent termination, saying that while she’d hoped for due process, a public hearing was “not in the best interests of our campus community” or her wellbeing.
College Council President Jannat Khan (25C) fired Gurock earlier this month for a “data leak” of a portion of Emory Students for Justice in Palestine’s (ESJP) budget, which included plans for a memorial tentatively scheduled for Oct. 7. The screenshot she sent included an ESJP member’s name.
In the letter announcing the withdrawal of her appeal, Gurock stated that she shared the screenshot with a former Emory student who works for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), but she did not know that the alum works for AIPAC. Gurock also wrote that she had not shared the screenshot with any intention of endangering the ESJP member. Rather, she only wanted to seek advice from the alum on how to move forward after seeing the portion of ESJP’s budget that had a “flag memorial” scheduled for Oct. 7.
An ESJP member, who requested to remain anonymous to avoid harassment, told The Emory Wheel that Oct. 7 was a tentative date and that ESJP is currently planning the memorial but has not yet picked an exact day. They added that it is still possible ESJP will hold the event on Oct. 7 and that it should not be a “controversy” if they do.
In a written statement to the Wheel, ESJP wrote that “no group has the exclusive right to mourn a certain day.”
“While over a thousand Israelis were killed, Israel began an ongoing genocide that day which has killed 200,000 Palestinians and led to the displacement of two million people,” the ESJP member wrote, citing the death toll published in The Lancet, which stated that “it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza.”
The Gaza Health Ministry reported that over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
“Mass starvation, a polio epidemic and the erasure of entire bloodlines have directly resulted from Israel’s actions since then,” the ESJP member wrote.
The ESJP member also wrote that since Gurock leaked the information to someone working at AIPAC — which they called a “known islamophobic and anti-Palestinian organization” – she endangered the student whose name was leaked. AIPAC is a prominent pro-Israel lobbying group that has spent over $100 million on federal elections so far this year.
“We appreciate the College Council executive team for terminating this member,” the ESJP member wrote. “This breach of trust was not something that could be repaired with an apology. Emory has consistently failed to protect its Muslim, Arab and Palestinian students from harassment.”
Gurock wrote in her withdrawal letter that she did not intend to share the student’s personal information.
“The student’s information that was shared in that photo did not go beyond their name,” Gurock wrote. “If you have seen the picture that was shared, you would probably understand how I didn’t even realize their name was included in the frame.”
Gurock’s withdrawal comes after a group of Emory students, alumni and organizations wrote a letter to College Council asking for Gurock not to be reinstated. ESJP, Emory Stop Cop City, Latinx Student Organization, Black Student Alliance and Students for Socialism were among the organizations that signed the letter.
“The explicit sharing of private information about clubs and students can incite violence on campus, and jeopardize student safety,” the letter stated.
In her letter, Gurock emphasized the emotional turmoil of having her termination publicized.
“I ask that those reading this letter remember that I am just as human as you,” Gurock wrote. “I understand the frustration that must be felt as you see the hurt of your peer and the instinct to stand up for them. I have read the messages, observed the villainizing, and endured the emotional impact of this week to my core.”
Additionally, Gurock stated that she hopes the ESJP member whose name was leaked “has not received any of the kind of hate or hostility that I have been subjected to this week.”
“I hope that with this statement, we as community members can close this horrific chapter and move forward,” Gurock wrote. “Despite being the target of this activism, I respect the intention to uphold accountability, just as I plan to do as I work with the administration in the coming weeks to refine College Council’s policies and decision-making practices.”
