More Than Paint: The Quiet Strength of Showing Up
Each year, student groups at Old Dominion University gather to “claim their crown” during Homecoming festivities. As the Monarchs, the crown is one of our campus’s most recognizable symbols—painted proudly on Kaufman Mall in dozens of bright, creative interpretations by student organizations. Though the outlines are identical, each crown becomes its own expression of identity and belonging. ODU Hillel, the campus Jewish student organization, looks forward to this tradition every year, creating a crown that reflects Jewish life at ODU.
Less than twelve hours after our crown was completed this October, it was defaced. This time, the vandalism—antisemitic in content and intent—was smeared across the surface in dripping red paint. The previous year, it has been “Free Palestine” sprayed in gold. As one student shared with me, “The fact that when I saw the group’s finished crown, my first thought was that it would likely be vandalized again says everything.”
In the past, when we repainted after vandalism, we did so alone as a small, quiet group of students bundled against the cold, feeling both weary and isolated. Homecoming happens when the weather is warm and campus is buzzing, but repainting in the winter feels bleak. As another student wrote to me, “It just feels like we can’t be normal college students, you know, to do normal college things.”
This year, though, I was determined it would be different for my Jewish students. Not only did ODU offer a clearer, stronger response which rightfully named the vandalism as antisemitic, but we were in a moment to ask our allies to come alongside us.
People often ask what they can do to support my Jewish students. I say time and again: the most impactful thing you can do is show up when they ask you. There is a particular power in showing up: not in grand gestures or perfectly crafted statements but in the simple act of arriving. Standing in the cold beside us shows students, unmistakably, that they are not alone.
Antisemitism, especially when directed at students, works by isolating, by saying to them: shrink back, be quiet, don’t expect anyone to stand with you. When vandalism becomes a repeated pattern, the isolation and pain deepen.
But this year, we were not alone.
Students came from Regent University, a nearby Christian institution whose students have consistently stood shoulder to shoulder with ours in fighting antisemitism and anti-Zionism; friends from Christians United for Israel (CUFI) attended; members of the Jewish Caucus of faculty and staff stood with us; and members of Temple Israel arrived in response to their rabbi’s heartfelt call to support Jewish students in this moment.
Instead of a small, shivering circle of four or five, we were a group of nearly twenty-five. We shared donuts, hot cocoa, and coffee. We listened to Israeli music as we painted. Christian students and Jewish students worked together, talking about finals, laughing, swapping stories, and carefully recreating our crown.
Why does showing up matter so much? Because presence itself is a form of courage. Showing up means choosing to stand visibly, publicly, and unapologetically with Jewish students. It means refusing to let us stand alone.
As we repainted the crown, what began as an act of hate became an act of brave defiance; what was meant to hurt us became a moment that bound us together. Each brushstroke testified that Jewish students matter and that they do not have to face antisemitism in isolation.
Showing up does not erase harm, but it transforms the landscape in which hate attempts to grow. It turns isolation into community; it replaces fear with shared responsibility; it reminds us that this story is not only about what was done to us, but about how we respond and about who has the courage to stand with us when we do.
Today, we saw solidarity made visible in the quiet, steady power of showing up.
And I am grateful.
To learn about or follow ODU Hillel and Jewish life at Old Dominion University, you can find us on Facebook, Instagram and our website.