Toward Jewish Reconciliation on Campuses

“Jew hate … is pervasive in classrooms across campus, in student groups and online … We are ostracized, mocked, harassed, assaulted and scapegoated because of our identities … We have been attacked with sticks outside of our library. We have been surrounded by angry mobs and we have been threatened to ‘Keep f**king running.’”

This is how Eden Yadegar recently described her ordeal as a junior at Columbia University to the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the U.S. House of Representatives, which is investigating antisemitism at Columbia and other U.S. higher education institutions.

The antisemitism crisis at U.S. universities, one marked by escalating safety risks, disruptions to teaching and learning, reputational harm, and donor alienation, reflects the serious consequences for universities when they fail to take timely and appropriate action against student protests that veer from free speech into hate speech.

As this current firestorm subsides, and with summer now upon us, university leaders will be forced to reckon with how they allowed pro-Palestinian student demonstrations to reach a point that the White House has called “blatantly antisemitic, unconscionable and dangerous.” They will need to take steps both to restore order and to reconcile with Jewish community members.

That process should involve engaging directly with Jewish and Israeli students, faculty members and student groups to understand their lived experiences of this frenzy of anti-Jewish racism. These engagements should be part of a formal inquiry undertaken by every campus that comprehensively examines the causes of antisemitic incidents, the lapses in protecting Jewish students and faculty, and the development of robust strategies and tactics to promote Jewish inclusion and defend against future waves of anti-Jewish racism.

There will be a need to re-evaluate policies around student protests to ensure that such actions do not descend into violence and jeopardize the physical and psychological safety of Jewish students and faculty members and, indeed, all community members on campus, nor infringe on the rights of students to engage in what should be the primary university activity—learning.

Universities will need to take a closer look at the ways in which anti-Israel and anti-Jewish politics and agendas have infiltrated their institutions and take action relating to discriminatory narratives promulgated by professors in or outside the classroom, student groups that espouse and promote ethnic violence, and discrimination against Israeli researchers.

Investigations will need to be conducted into how funding from foreign governments has contributed to the fomenting of anti-Jewish hate. A recent report detailed how more than 200 U.S. universities have received $13 billion in contributions from foreign governments, many of them authoritarian regimes such as the governments of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The report found that campuses that had received foreign funding experienced higher numbers of antisemitic incidents.

In keeping with the valued tradition of universities as places for the exchange of ideas and the pursuit of truth, postsecondary leaders should also seek ways to cultivate productive discussion and dialogue about Middle East conflicts that emphasize the inclusion of and respect for diverse viewpoints.

Diversity, equity and inclusion policies and programs at universities will need to be reconsidered and revised to recognize and address the needs of Jewish students and faculty members. As members of a historically persecuted group that once again finds itself vulnerable to bias, harassment and violence, Jews also deserve the DEI supports and protections that are afforded to other marginalized groups.

From a communications perspective, universities can take many steps to demonstrate their dedication to the rights and safety of Jewish and Israeli students. Public statements about their institution’s values of inclusiveness and tolerance must explicitly indicate a firm rejection of anti-Jewish hatred and strong commitment to protecting the security of Jewish and Israeli community members. To maintain a safe and cooperative workplace, communicators must express these same sentiments in internal messaging to faculty and staff.

University communicators should also connect with Jewish student groups and Jewish employees to understand how they are experiencing this growing wave of ethnic hatred so that they can shape culturally sensitive communications.

It would also be useful for communicators to connect with Jewish and Israeli community organizations to better understand the complex history of antisemitism and how Jewish community members are experiencing this current wave of ethnic hatred. Engaging with groups such as the Anti-Defamation League and Jewish Federations of North America could help communicators guide their universities in their interactions with students, employees, donors, the public and other stakeholders. Such outreach efforts will also support communicators in developing robust protocols to deal with comments on their university’s social media posts that feature anti-Jewish misinformation or bias.

Finally, achieving true and meaningful reconciliation with Jewish community members will also require universities to engage with and support their institution’s Jewish spiritual leaders. Together with interfaith and other spiritual leaders on campus, rabbis can play an important role in healing tribal divisions and promoting unity on campus, which has never felt more important in the higher education space.