Issue #10
Campus News
College Administrators Must Get Control of Campus: Large numbers of Jewish students are reporting harassment and abuse. Unless a sense of control returns to campus, universities will lose all moral authority and relevance.
“Rules mean nothing unless they are enforced. All incoming students should receive not only written notice of campus regulations but also mandatory, in-person briefings to explain the rules and answer questions about them, including the consequences of violating them. For serious violations, there should be a system of escalating punishments—a warning after the first offense, suspension for at least a semester after the second, and expulsion without the possibility of readmission for the third.”
Report Finds Schools with Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP) Chapters are Far More Likely to Have Antisemitism Problem: Northwestern University has an active FJP chapter, and this report found that FJP members drive and encourage disruptive and antisemitic student protest on their campuses.
“FJP chapters play a pivotal role in driving—and protecting—anti-Israel student activism. Universities with FJP chapters are 7.3 times more likely to experience physical violence directed at Jewish students than those without, the report found. Encampments at those schools, meanwhile, last 4.7 times longer, while anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) resolutions are 4.9 times more likely to pass.”
Antisemitism on College Campuses: Incidents in July-August were up 10-fold since last year.
“Since the terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023, antisemitic incidents against Jewish students on college campuses have reached alarmingly high rates, increasing by 700% from 2022 to 2023.”
How a Faculty Network Fuels Unrest and Antisemitic Violence: FJP groups are leading disruptive and dangerous behavior on campus.
“This report demonstrates that FJP groups are not only influencing student-led antisemitic activism but are also spearheading the promotion of academic boycotts that target Jewish students, faculty, and pro-Israel organizations for harm. More disturbingly, the presence of FJP chapters correlates strongly with the rise of violent antisemitic behavior on campuses, including physical assaults and death threats. Unless university administrations and policymakers take immediate and decisive action, the violence and antisemitic environment fostered by these faculty groups will continue to escalate, endangering the safety of Jewish students and faculty nationwide.”
UW-Madison Disciplinary Committee Recommends Probation for SJP: Following the group’s action in the encampment last spring, the committee recommended a year-long suspension based on clear violations to the student code.
“Tonya Schmidt from the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards (OSCCS) accused UW-Madison SJP of Registered Student Organization code of conduct violations including harmful behavior, violation of UW System Administrative Code prohibiting camping on university property, damage to property, disruptions to university functions and failure to comply with university officials.”
UPenn Establishes Office of Religious and Ethnic Inclusion:
“Over the past year, our campus and our country witnessed a disquieting surge in antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of religious and ethnic intolerance. This type of prejudice is simply unacceptable, and has no place at Penn. The Office of Religious and Ethnic Inclusion (Title VI) is being formed to confront this deeply troubling trend, and to serve as a stand-alone center for education and complaint resolution. It represents an institutional commitment to address both the short-term and long-term recommendations that we have received.”
High School Teacher Boycotts Zionists: Can a teacher who refuses to sit on a literary panel moderated by a “Zionist” be fairly evaluating all students in her classes? Can she be teaching her students scholarship that appreciates and respects complicated issues and multiple persepctives?
“Ms. Gawad is entitled to her opinion, but her decision to withdraw from an event that “did not feel like a safe forum” to her suggests to impressionable young students that it is advisable to run away from differing perspectives—and even to refuse to discuss a completely separate topic with someone who holds them. It’s an idea that will likely be reinforced when they arrive on illiberal college campuses and find that there is one accepted point of view.”
Viral Social Media Post
Sen. Torres calls for universities to follow NYU’s example of recognizing Anti-Zionism as equal to antisemitism View Post
Dismissing Concerns of Jewish Students: Northwestern attempts to dismiss lawsuit, but we stand behind our students. View Post
Comments from the NU Community of Alumni, Students & Families
“Why is Northwestern bringing in a professor from Gaza? Tunnels and munitions were found under his university. The head of an UNWRA school was involved in Hamas. How can we know this professor has been properly vetted and is not a security risk to our university community? Has the U.S. government been involved?”
“It is unconscionable that NU allows SJP to stay on campus as they repost Instagram notices from the national organization calling for a day of rage that begins on Oct. 7. That’s them putting their cards on the table. What is NU waiting for?”
“Didn’t Schill say the antisemitism session was required of all incoming students? My daughter said the RAs were telling them it was optional so a lot of kids were skipping it. This is very sad and shows that the university is not willing to stand behind its commitment to antisemitism training or to make any meaningful change on campus.”
“I am getting really sick of this ‘anti-Zionism isn’t antisemitism’ BS. They know it is, we know it is, and they know we know. Maybe this is a pipe dream but I would like to see NU as a leader in getting schools to adopt the stance that anti-Zionist rhetoric is fundamentally antisemitic and as such will not be tolerated in any form.”