Before testimony on Capitol Hill on Thursday by Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway, hundreds of Jewish Rutgers students, faculty, administrators and staff signed a pair of letters condemning the school’s handling of anti-Semitism on campus.
The Rutgers administration agreed to many of the demands of anti-Israel protesters on campus, but refused to divest from companies linked to Israel or cut ties with Tel Aviv University. Lawmakers, including Governor Phil Murphy, have condemned the university’s handling of the situation.
The more than 150 students who signed the student-led letter wrote that they “want to share our experiences of the past academic year in hopes of conveying the pain, hurt and isolation that many of us have suffered and suggesting ways in which The entire university community could perhaps do better in the future, not only to support its Jewish students, but also to create a more tolerant climate for all its members.”
The students said anti-Israel protesters had “in short… taken over our university,” including by forcing the postponement of final exams, taking over construction and blocking events.
They said they felt “abandoned” by people they considered friends in the aftermath of the October 7 attack on Israel, some of whom defended Hamas’s massacre and “quickly mobilized in support of terror, making it clear to us that we would not be safe and welcome at the university that many of us called home.”
The students further accused “many faculty and staff” of “guiding.” [protesters] in tactics of intimidation and threatened protest,” the students helped negotiate with administrators and in some cases “permitted and perpetuated anti-Semitic behavior in their own classrooms.”
They said they have “no objection” to pro-Palestinian protests, but said student groups that have actively violated others’ rights to free speech have not been punished, and that the university has failed to enforce its own rules .
“Our desire is nothing more than for our university to once again become a place where all people are welcome and treated equally, in a tolerant environment where we can all pursue knowledge in a spirit of peace and empathy for others,” the letter said. continued.
The second letter, signed by more than 200 faculty, staff and administrators, highlights more than a dozen incidents, including the celebration of the October 7 attack and the use of university resources to promote anti-Israel propaganda, some of which has gone unpunished .
“The government’s decision to accede to the demands of the protesters in the camp undermines the principles of shared governance and elevates the voices of a few radical people above those of the more reasonable whole,” they wrote. “It is a disservice not only to Jewish students, faculty and staff, but to the entire university community.”
They said Rutgers had failed to be proactive and make clear its rules and policies regarding demonstrations. our campuses.”
