Parents, It’s Time to Get Involved on Campus

Watching the shocking events unfold on college campuses over the past academic year should have alerted every parent to the dire situation at our institutions of higher education. Antisemitic rhetoric and actions towards Jewish students, and especially those who publicly identify as Zionists, rose to all times high on North American universities following the Hamas atrocities on October 7.

All parents wish to send their children to a place that fosters an environment which allows them to focus on education. All parents hope that their students will be safe at school, and that the administration will be attentive to their needs. But these parents’ hopes and dreams instead turned into a constant source of worry for Jewish and Zionist families during the 2023/4 academic year.

Congressional hearings showed the parents of Jewish and Zionist students how elite schools’ presidents cannot clearly explain what violates their own institutional codes of conduct. News reports revealed administrators who instead of empathizing with their campus Jewish community, were exchanging sarcastic text messages with one another. Other reports showed professors encouraging their students to attend the so called “encampments” where hateful rhetoric and glorification of terrorist organizations was commonplace.

Jewish and Zionist students had a year of unprecedented challenges. At Students Supporting Israel, our national team worked together with many of these students, spending hours on calls to encourage them or simply lend an attentive ear while they described the hate and bigotry they faced on campus. We could not be prouder of the SSI students who dedicated so much of their academic year to organizing rallies, vigils, informational tables and other events to educate their peers about the situation in Israel.

One thing stood out in our many conversations with college attendees. The students who said they had strong parental support to be active and vocal on campus, were by far more confident and willing to attend pro-Israel rallies, participate in advocacy events, and stand up for their values and identity during often tense confrontations with their peers. While this sounds like stating the obvious, there is no better time than the summer vacation ahead of the new school year to be reminded of the importance of parental support and involvement.

Signs of a hostile campus environment toward Zionism and Israel were there prior to October 7th, but not everyone followed closely. Now that everyone is paying attention, it is impossible to be sitting on the bleachers. Those who have been following K-12 school news over the past several years have surely noticed the significant amount of coverage school boards across the country received regarding the desire of parents to be part of the conversation in setting school curriculum and environment for their children.

Higher education should also be looked at as a place in which not just the students, but also the parents are major stakeholders. Many parents spent precious years before college investing in Jewish education, visits to Israel, or other community involvement through summer camps and synagogues all to build the child’s strong sense of identity. They also invested much hard work to push their students to achieve the level of academic excellence that will admit them to a prestigious college. Let’s ensure these investments do not go to waste and help build an academic environment where pro-Israel students can flourish.

To the Jewish and Zionist parents, I suggest using this time before the fall classes begin, and continuously throughout year, to check in with your students’ academic advisors, research about the professors, and contact school administrators. Make sure you are being heard regarding your expectations from the institutions to take clear steps against antisemitism or attempted academic boycotts of the State of Israel. In addition, encourage your students to speak up. Let your children see you take action, which will in turn inspire them even more than words can do. Teach them by example that in a society that values free speech, while we cannot control the words of others, we can, however, choose not to remain silent ourselves.