UP FRONT CONNECTICUT JEWISH LEDGER | SINCE 1929 | APRIL 2, 2021 | 20 NISAN 5781
Webinar addresses antisemitism on campus – including UConn
H
ARTFORD–Last October, three separate instances of antisemitic vandalism occurred in a residential complex on the University of Connecticut campus in Storrs. “There was a lack of response from the UConn administration, and that left Jewish students on campus feeling very unsafe and unsupported by this institution that they look to, to protect them and educate them,” said Dori Jacobs, president of UConn Hillel. Jacobs didn’t take that lack of concern from the administration sitting down. “I reached out personally to our president and to our chief diversity officer and asked for a response,” she said. “I asked why they were ignoring these incidents that are making students on their campus feel so unsafe.” An open letter signed by 300 students was sent to UConn President Thomas Katsouleas and a dialogue began between Katsouleas and Jacobs. Soon a statement went out to the entire UConn community from the president denouncing the antisemitic incidents, in addition to several other measures designed to help deal with and prevent future antisemitic acts. This included working with the student government on legislation officially adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, and coming up with protocols for dealing with incidents of antisemitism and other bias in the future. Unfortunately in February, another incident occurred – a swastika was drawn on the wall of a men’s bathroom in UConn’s biology/physics building. And UConn is not alone. Antisemtism is on the rise on college campuses across the nation. On Wednesday, March 17, the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford, the Connecticut office of the ADL and the Simon Weisenthal Center presented a webinar on the subject, “Antisemitism on Campus: Are We Ensuring a Safe Environment For the Jewish Community?” Attempting to answer that question were Ethan Felson, executive director of jewishledger.com
BY STACEY DRESNER
ETHAN FELSON DISCUSSES ANTISEMITISM ON CAMPUS AT THE RECENT ADLSPONSORED WEBINAR.
A Wider Bridge, an LGBTQ organization that supports Israel and advocates for LGBT rights in Israel, and former director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Hartford; and Frederick M. Lawrence, CEO of Phi Beta Kappa Society and former president of Brandeis University. Psychologist Dr. Dale Atkins mediated the discussion, which began with Jacobs’ comments about dealing with the antisemitic vandalism last fall at UConn and how Hillel and the administration are handling the issue now. “Now what we’re working on doing is not being so reactionary – [not] only working to fight antisemitism when it happens to us – but instead, being proactive and educating people ahead of time so that these incidents don’t occur at all,” Jacobs said. “And I’d say the biggest lesson that we learned in all of this is that you have more allies than you think. The second that you start to speak up about these issues, people will come forward and be on your side and fight with you.” Felson addressed Jacobs’ story in his opening comment. “How I wish it wasn’t the first time that I heard that story. I’ve heard that story from student after student for so many years. But the campuses are not burning.
Hebrew College announces relocation to Newton, Mass. campus
B
BY PENNY SCHWARTZ
Most students on campus feel safe and secure in their Jewish identity but not all. And the problem is getting worse, at least in my observation.” Felson, a native of West Hartford, spoke of a recent online forum with students. “I spoke with three of them that were LGBTQ, and each one of them…expressed to me that it’s harder for them to be Jewish on campus, then to be queer… I spoke with a student who said that she was told she couldn’t serve on a committee that would be overseeing a campus election that had to do with an issue related to Israel because she was Jewish and it was presumed that she would be biased, and students who are on, as it were, the other side of that debate, weren’t given the same ouster. The good news is that there are a lot of people who are there to support students,” including Jewish Federations and their Jewish Community Relations Councils and the ADL, Felson said. Dealing with antisemitism or anti-Israel sentiment on campus is “complicated,” said Lawrence, a civil rights scholar and free expression advocate in his opening statement, “because it actually falls at the intersection of two different core values of our society [and] our academic institutions. “One is free expression, free inquiry, the ability to try out ideas that aren’t popular that you’re not even sure you believe…to express your views and develop your views. “And on another side is the idea of building an academic community, a diverse community, an equitable community, and an inclusive community, which for the American Jewish community has been one of the great blessings of the last century or more of being able to be safe on campuses… Those things don’t always fit evenly and easily together. That’s part of the challenge here…How do you navigate all of those issues…in a way of making sure that people are safe to express unpopular views? I often said to groups of students… ‘I’m not going to agree with everything you say but I am going to defend your right to say it,’ within certain broad limits. And those limits are going to include that you can’t threaten
OSTON (JTA) – Two years after Hebrew College sold its distinctive building to pay off debt, the pluralistic institution has announced that it will be moving in with a nearby Conservative synagogue. Located less than five miles from Hebrew College’s current space, Temple Reyim’s campus in Newton, a Boston suburb with a long established Jewish community, is already home to Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh and Education Center, a Jewish after school program and the Zamir Chorale of Boston.
A RENDERING OF THE PLANNED SHARED CAMPUS BETWEEN TEMPLE REYIM AND HEBREW COLLEGE. (COURTESY OF PRELLWITZ CHILINSKI ASSOCIATES)
Hebrew College’s move, announced on March 16 and planned for December 2022, caps a decade of uncertainty and budget woes and staff reductions for the college, even as its rabbinical school and adult learning programs have grown steadily. The school celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. Hebrew College President Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that she knew finding the right home for the school was a top priority when she was installed in 2018 as the first woman to lead the college. “On the one hand, our new home would have to be affordable and sustainable. … On the other hand,
CONTINUED ON THE NEXT PAGE
JEWISH LEDGER
CONTINUED ON THE NEXT PAGE
|
APRIL 2, 2021
5
