Helping Students Combat Campus Antisemitism

In May of 2024, I was proudly sitting in Boston’s Fenway Park watching my niece graduate from Northeastern University. Like universities across the country, graduation exercises included protests against the Gaza War. The giant live streamed screens displayed students wearing keffiyehs, others holding up phones to the camera that said, “Divest Now” or “Stop Genocide,” one student even stripped off his gown to reveal a very pro-Palestinian message written on his body. While the latter received a positive response from the student body, the student body reaction was drowned out by the applause from the stands when one of the Deans scolded him by saying that outbursts like his would interrupt the ceremonies. While my niece took this all in stride, I thought what if I was a student today? How would I feel? Could I handle the level of antisemitism occurring on campuses across the nation? More importantly, how could I – a childless senior citizen – help Jewish college students?

The desire to support my niece’s peers led me to join a Facebook Group designated for this purpose – Mothers Against College Antisemitism (MACA). Since I live in New Jersey, but was president of my congregation in Pennsylvania, I have attended events on both sides of the Delaware River sponsored by Chabad or Hillel. I listened to the troubling accounts of obvious antisemitism endured by both students and faculty since October 7th. I watched and reported on a Palestinian film that was at best disinformation and at worst propaganda concerning the modern history of Israel vis-à-vis the West Bank and Gaza. The most recent occasion was a march by Rutgers students to free the hostages. (This piece grew out of the contacts I made at that event.)

While campus protests with a strongly antisemitic tone have invoked impassioned feelings from all sides of the Jewish community, I have tried to keep in mind how best to support our Jewish students. After all, we may attend an event, but they live there 24/7. I was at Rutgers University’s New Brunswick campus in late March, and I stopped to witness a protest taking place outside of the Chabad opposing the presence of IDF soldiers who were speaking inside. While observing the protestors I had the pleasure of meeting Lillian Russ, an undergraduate student highly involved in the Rutgers campus Jewish community. With the support and encouragement of Laur Plawker, Director of Community Relations at Rutgers Hillel, I discussed with Lillian her experiences interacting with external organizations such as MACA, who have formed to ostensibly support campus Jewish communities, but who can sometimes have the opposite impact. Lillian shared, “I think that MACA and external organizations need to partner with Hillel, Chabad, and other institutions, to plan effective strategies to combat campus antisemitism that allow students to both lead the way on their own campuses and to share the change they really want to see.”  My own experiences attending various campus events, and my interactions with Ms. Russ and Mrs. Plawker have led me to the following conclusions as to ways we external stakeholders can best support students facing antisemitism on college campuses as they return to school in the coming days:

1.  Letter writing – I often receive online form letters addressed to a particular university’s president or Board of Trustees. Frankly, if it is a private university and you are not an alum, I doubt your voice matters. On the other hand, if you are an alum, or know alums, let your voice(s) be heard. As for public universities, alums are preferable again, but if you are a resident of the state I recommend writing to your political representative as public schools are funded through the respective State’s annual budget, as well as that university’s leadership.

2. Attending campus events – If the event is just for students, faculty, and administration, it is not for you. Many pro-Palestinian events are so targeted. Step aside. If there is an event set up on campus by Hillel, Chabad, or another campus-based group, contact them to see if your presence will be appreciated. Please do not go it alone. You may legally be asked to move from campus. If the event is open to the public, then by all means go. If it is a pro-Palestinian lecture, take good notes and report back. If you want to engage with the speaker AFTER the event, do so. But let the students ask questions during the event. It is their campus. They need to have their say. Same thing with a pro-Israel event. It is students first, last, and always.

3. Off Campus events – Sometimes the only avenue of protest is off campus. While protesting on a street outside of the main gate of a particular school may be legal and your right, will it help the students on that campus? Contact Hillel and Chabad, if they are present at that academic institution, and ask them their opinion. We want to be on the same page as the people we are trying to assist.

4. Financial Support – Target your funds to Hillel, Chabad, or other Jewish campus organizations. I used to give money to my graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania. No More. It goes straight to Hillel.

Some of you probably think that my way of supporting students isn’t strong enough, or loud enough. Everyone is entitled to their opinions. But given that this is what students are telling us they need, I hope that we should be guided by the principle of letting the students decide how they want to respond and legally back them up.

Am Yisrael Chai!