Jewish Names on Buildings, Hate within the Walls

Across North American campuses, some of the most iconic university buildings bear Jewish names — a testament to the generosity and deep commitment of Jewish donors to education, research, and progress. Yet, within these very walls, hatred toward Israel and the Jewish people is thriving. Universities that have benefited from Jewish philanthropy for decades have allowed their classrooms to become indoctrination centers, where anti-Israel propaganda is disguised as scholarship, and where Jewish students are increasingly marginalized, harassed, and silenced.

The irony could not be clearer than at Columbia University, where the Milstein Center for Teaching and Learning, named after a prominent Jewish philanthropic family, was taken over by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). Instead of removing and holding these students accountable, the university chose to negotiate with them. The very building that symbolizes Jewish generosity and the pursuit of knowledge was turned into a staging ground for students celebrating Hamas, justifying terrorism, and demonizing the Jewish state.

But this issue extends far beyond Columbia. At Harvard University, the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, funded by Jewish donors, exists within a school that has repeatedly failed to take action against antisemitic incidents. At the University of Pennsylvania, the Perelman Quadrangle, named after a major Jewish benefactor, is home to an administration that stood idly by as Penn hosted an antisemitic, anti-Israel “literature festival” just days before October 7th. Meanwhile, at Northwestern University, the Pritzker School of Law, named after a prominent Jewish family, educates students who go on to defend terrorists rather than uphold justice.

Jewish donors have long invested in brick and mortar, believing that funding libraries, research centers, and lecture halls would foster higher learning and mutual understanding. But the reality today is starkly different: these buildings are being used to spread hostility toward Jews and Israel. Endowments and donations that were meant to promote academic excellence are instead subsidizing anti-Zionist ideology and antisemitism. If we continue down this path, future students will either see Jewish names on buildings and assume they were disconnected from Israel—or those names will be replaced by Qatar that poured billions into buying campus influence.

It is time for a strategic shift. Instead of pouring millions into buildings that become platforms for indoctrination, Jewish donors must invest in the students who are fighting back. Organizations like Students Supporting Israel (SSI)are on the ground, ensuring that Jewish and pro-Israel students are not left defenseless in an increasingly hostile environment. Other Jewish organizations provide students with a sense of home, but we must go even further—not just supporting students, but also reclaiming the classrooms themselves.

Universities cannot be left to radical professors who fill lecture halls with anti-Israel falsehoods. It is time to fund faculty, research, and academic programs that openly promote Zionist values, truth, and intellectual integrity, not under the table or within our comfort zones, but in the open, reaching every corner of campus. For years, we have hosted Israeli and Jewish professors on campus, but what about actively placing professors who proudly promote Zionism? One professor can impact more young adults in a single semester than most adults will influence in a lifetime. The students, the professors, and the grassroots movement are the immediate agents of change, and they can create a change where institutions cannot or in places where diplomacy has failed.

The choice is clear: continue funding institutions that turn a blind eye to Jew-hatred, or invest in the next generation of Zionist leaders who will not be silenced. The future of Jewish presence on campus does not depend on the names on the buildings—it depends on who controls the conversation within them.

At Students Supporting Israel, we will fight tooth and nail to ensure our voices are heard, our Zionism is seen, and our battle is won. There is no other way around it. A war cannot be won without having physical presence on campus grounds and inside the classrooms.