New Concerns on College Campuses

If a college year had a theme, last year’s would sadly be “encampment” — a term coined to reference the temporary gathering/living spaces across campuses that attracted brainwashed students to protest for the myth of Palestinian freedom, a well-oiled result of a long-planned war on Jewish college students and a stretching of the boundaries of free speech on campus.

When I dropped my daughter off for her own freshman year two weeks ago, I was grateful to hear college President Sian Beilock state in her opening remarks, and I paraphrase, that while free speech is welcome, it is not welcome when it interferes with the education of Dartmouth students. It felt like a strong warning to the incoming class of freshman. And based on the last 11 months on college campuses, a much needed one.

Just yesterday a University of Michigan sophomore was attacked while walking at 12:45am. A group of six men behind him asked if he was Jewish, and when the student proudly answered yes, they threw him to the ground, kicked him, and spit on him. It is now being investigated as a hate crime. The teen had only minor physical injuries, but the emotional impact on him and other Jewish university students is yet to be determined. As one University of Michigan mother told me last night, “My daughter knows not to walk alone at night, and she knows that if someone you don’t know asks you if you are Jewish, you sadly say no.”

You might remember that last month two University of Pittsburgh students were attacked while walking to their Hillel building on campus. Despite the terror of the incident, I had been relieved to learn that the assailant was a local man, not a student. Back at the University of Michigan, we do not yet know the identity of the attackers, but whether they are students or not, it would be naive to think that this is not the potential start of an ugly pattern where students are not safe walking while Jewish.

This plea from NY Congressman Ritchie Torres, is so important for University leaders to hear as they embark on a new school year. He encourages other colleges to immediately follow NYU’s recent example, and modernize their non-discrimination and non-harassment policies. NYU’s policy clearly states: Using code words, like “Zionist,” does not eliminate the possibility that your speech violates the NDAH Policy.  For many Jewish people, Zionism is a part of their Jewish identity.

As Torres further explains: “The substitution of the word Zionist for Jew is the modus operandi of the new antisemitism.”

An incredible communicator and non-Jewish hero, Torres is spot-on in this message, and I encourage you to pass it along to the university leadership in your life - whether you are a parent, a student, or an alum.

TO ATTEND
This Wednesday is Israel Appreciation Day, a virtual conference taking place on September 18th from 6:30-8:30pm EST. The event is televised and non-partisan and full of fantastic speakers from Senator Cory Booker to Patricia Heaton. I will be moderating a 2024 New Voices panel featuring Donny Deutsch, Kaya Jones, and Rebecca De Mornay. If you are interested in attending, they have shared a promo code with our Jewsletter community. Get 15% off of your ticket with the code: SAMANTHAETTUS. Purchase your ticket here!

TO READ
Fiction: The Goddess of Warsaw By Lisa Barr
A gripping story about a Hollywood star with a dark secret about her life as a Jew in the Warsaw Ghetto.

Nonfiction: Israel Alone by Bernard-Henri Levy
A short yet brilliant book about the state of Israel post October 7th from one of the world’s most preeminent thinkers.

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