Top professor accuses Melbourne Uni of employing neo-Nazis

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The state’s top university is facing a fresh race row after one of its highest-profile academics accused the institution of employing neo-Nazis and labelled its policies on antisemitism an embarrassment.

In an article published by The Australian on Friday, University of Melbourne professor of Australian Indigenous studies Marcia Langton claimed some of her colleagues had engaged in “devious and underhanded antisemitism”, and that at least two neo-Nazis were employed in academic positions.

The University of Melbourne is considering appealing the decision.

“As an academic at the University of Melbourne, I find the devious and underhanded antisemitism of some of my colleagues intolerable, and our policy an embarrassment,” she wrote.

“My university employs at least two neo-Nazis in academic positions, and one of them is clearly committed to the Great White Replacement Theory, although guileful in his various public and private statements.”

The great replacement theory is a far-right conspiracy that posits so-called elites are conspiring to replace people of European descent with non-white people, particularly those from Asian and African heritage.

Langton did not name the academics she referred to, and when contacted by this masthead on Friday, she declined to reveal their identities or comment further on her article.

Racism and alleged antisemitism have been flashpoints at universities across Australia in recent years, including the University of Melbourne.

The institution’s attempts to sack another academic, law school professor Eric Descheemaeker, over what it alleges was a pattern of racist remarks, has been held up in the courts.

The university tried to dismiss Descheemaeker after an email he sent to Matthew Harding, then dean of the university’s law school, in August 2023, was leaked earlier this year and posted around the Parkville campus.

In the email, Descheemaeker referred to the university’s recently announced Indigenous cultural safety review as “an ideological re-education camp”.

The review was ordered after a series of resignations of Indigenous academics, culminating in the high-profile departure of former Northern Territory discrimination commissioner Eddie Cubillo from his role as associate dean of the nation’s top-ranked law school.

Cubillo described the school as “the most culturally unsafe place I’ve worked”.

The Age does not suggest Descheemaeker, whose case against the university is scheduled to return to court in February, is one of the academics Langton referred to.

A university spokesperson did not respond on Friday when asked about how the institution would respond to Langton’s public attack, but defended the institution’s effort to fight antisemitism.

“We remain steadfast in our commitment to combat antisemitism on our campuses,” the spokesperson said.

“In January 2023, the university adopted the non-legally binding International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism as part of its anti-racism commitment.

“This year we worked with the special envoy to combat antisemitism and the Group of Eight Australia to contribute to develop a definition of antisemitism for the higher education sector.

“We will continue to use these two definitions as educative tools to inform our understanding of antisemitism.”

The university had another recent setback over its expulsion of two students it accused of harassing and intimidating Jewish academic Steven Prawer as they occupied the professor’s office over his links with the University of Jerusalem.

An internal appeals panel found last month that the university had failed to give proper consideration to the students’ human rights when it decided to kick them out.

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