Show your support for No Tolerance for Antisemitism by sending a letter to your supervisor. Below is a template letter you can urge your campus administration to proactively counter antisemitism and make campus a safer, more welcoming environment for Jewish staff and faculty.
Dear [Insert University Administrator],
In the last academic year, Jewish students across the nation faced a wave of hate, violence and ostracization – ADL recorded an unprecedented 1,400 antisemitic incidents on college and university campuses. Unauthorized protests and encampments took over campuses and significantly disrupted the learning environment at colleges and universities nationwide. It is critical to prevent the recurrence of the discrimination of Jewish students, and disruptions faced by the wider community. Your leadership is necessary to ensure a return to a positive academic experience for all.
Almost three-quarters of Jewish college students (73%) experienced some form of antisemitism while at school in fall 2023. During the same time period, fewer than half of Jewish students reported feeling “very” or “extremely” physically safe on campus, while only a third reported feeling emotionally safe.
These statistics depict a troubling reality for Jewish college students. They are not only facing physical and verbal attacks, but they are also facing a heightened sense of fear in expressing their cultural, ancestral and religious identity. This has created an unacceptable learning environment that must be addressed as students return to campus.
As a member of the campus community, I urge you to take immediate and enduring action to address the hostile environment on campus and ensure that Jewish members of the campus community are protected and welcomed just like all other members of the campus community. As we enter a new school year, you have an obligation and opportunity to set a dramatically different tone from last school year by adopting the comprehensive set of recommendations from Anti-Defamation League (ADL), including:
- Clearly Communicate Campus Rules, Standards, and Policies: Make clear to students what it means to be a member of the campus community, and ensure students, faculty, and staff are aware of school policies on protests and demonstrations.
- Support Jewish Students: Prevent discrimination, unequivocally denounce antisemitism, ensure inclusivity, and provide antisemitism education and training.
- Ensure Campus Safety: Enforce university codes of conduct, maintain clear reporting avenues for antisemitic incidents, ensure campus staff are trained to address violations of campus rules, and reaffirm rejection of BDS and academic boycotts of Israel.
- Reaffirm Faculty Responsibilities: Ensure students’ academic freedom and a non-discriminatory learning environment in the classroom. Communicate and enforce policies regarding faculty who threaten to withhold students’ grades if faculty demands are not met, or who cancel mandatory classes.
- Prepare for October 7: Anticipate and mitigate disruptions on the one-year mark of the Hamas attack on Israel, ensuring any protest activities do not interfere with campus operations or Jewish students’ rights.
I join other Jewish parents, alumni, and students in demanding that you take action now to ensure that Jewish students are protected from hate, and to guarantee basic safety for the wider campus community. More than ever, we need leadership to ensure that college campuses can return to being refuges for curiosity, exploration and learning free from discrimination for all students.
Sincerely,
[Insert name(s)]