The post-Labor Day week is typically one of back-to-school butterflies, a time of optimism and new beginnings. But this year, we all know, is markedly different on multiple fronts.
There is the very recent pain of the six murdered hostages weighing heavily on our hearts. In northern Israel and parts of the south, there is still no return to regular school. Displaced children — for a second year now — are sitting in temporary classrooms. And far too many children in Israel are starting the year with the crushing new reality of parents killed, seriously injured, or still being held captive in Gaza.
Weaponizing our grief, pro-Hamas protestors have returned en masse here in New York.
At Columbia, my alma mater, the statue on College Walk was defaced with red paint on the first day of classes. CUNY students, gathered for a welcome back dinner at a Midtown kosher restaurant, were verbally harassed by protestors with abhorrent rhetoric and threats.
We understand the anguish of parents who only want their kids to be free and safe to express their Judaism and Zionism on campus, and the frustration — and, at times, fear — we all feel seeing these incidents unfold. Principles of free speech must be protected, but the threats and harassment cross all lines.
I hear daily from those who want to know what more can be done. Where and how do we express our outrage? How loud do we get? Where are our allies?
First, we need to acknowledge that antisemitism isn’t new and doesn’t have a single root cause — it’s been a stain on humanity for millennia, morphing with the times. Today, the dogmatic "oppressed vs. oppressor” illiberalism that dominates on many elite campuses is particularly pernicious. And in the age of social media, hate and misinformation, once released, spreads like Pandora’s box opened, very difficult to contain.
There is no single recourse, no one solution. To undermine and weaken antisemitism, we must take a sustained, multifaceted approach, with a simultaneous focus on acute needs and investments in longer-term outcomes.
In the short term, safety must be the first priority. College students can only learn and participate in Jewish life if they feel physically secure.
To that end, we’ve deployed UJA’s Community Security Initiative (CSI) to help ensure the safety of Jewish students on campus. Created in 2019 in partnership with JCRC-NY, CSI is widely recognized as playing a vital role in safeguarding the New York Jewish community.
The now 20-person CSI team includes a newly hired professional campus security director solely focused on Jewish students. CSI has met with senior administrators and security directors at multiple universities across the New York area, as well as with local and federal prosecutors regarding protest activity on campus. Additionally, CSI has brought in highly trained security professionals on campuses, allowing Hillel staff to focus on welcoming students and fostering community. We’ve also funded an app to connect Jewish students at schools across New York to security in real time.
This summer, we convened all local Hillel directors and leading partners in the antisemitism space, including ADL, AJC, Academic Engagement Network, the Brandeis Center, JCRC, Hillel International, and Israel on Campus Coalition, to ensure coordinated activity on campus. We’ve also provided political strategists and media consultants to prepare Hillel directors for the return to school. On a parallel track, UJA leaders have been regularly meeting with top university leaders, stressing the need to have appropriate codes of conduct, and to rigorously apply them with speed and transparency.
Since spring, we’ve been funding an attorney at the Brandeis Center dedicated to local campuses, focusing on Title VI claims. This is both about supporting the rights of Jewish students and defending them against baseless misconduct allegations. Our initial funding made it possible for Brandeis to establish a New York office with four full-time attorneys.
Looking to longer-term change, we’ve met with university leadership about the need to diversify faculty and to reconsider student recruitment practices.
Looking at generational change, we’re investing in advocacy, training, and curriculum surrounding Israel and contemporary antisemitism in the K-12 space, reaching young people before they ever set foot on campus.
All of this is happening as we continue to invest significant additive funding at New York-area Hillels, providing more Jewish community and greater mental health support, so that students know they have a home on campus. Just one example: We’ve enabled Hillels both locally and across the state to super-charge their “welcome back to campus” experiences, striving to drive a 20% growth in engagement across the first eight weeks of the new semester.
Speaking this week at a UJA briefing on campus issues, a senior at Columbia University and a passionate pro-Israel student leader reported on her advocacy work and how much Hillel means to her. She told us how a fellow student, a sophomore, overwhelmed with grief for the hostages and struggling to comprehend a protestor’s sign that read “Divest or you’re next,” came to her in tears, regretting her return to campus. This senior directed the younger student to the Hillel, confident that the staff she knew well would provide the right words and resources.
Which is to say: We are making a difference. Our efforts are critically important. And we cannot be deterred or intimidated, recognizing that the task ahead is great and this is not the work of a day, a week, or a semester.
It’s the work of a people who believe in the promise of America and the promise of a sovereign Jewish and democratic state. A people determined to freely express our identity as proud Jewish-Americans on college campuses this year — and for generations to come.
Shabbat shalom