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Harvard. Over 200 anti-Israel protesters staged a march
and then a sit-in on Saturday afternoon on Harvard’s campus, organized by Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine. This comes one day after Harvard placed 20 students on involuntary leave for participating in the unauthorized encampment on campus. The rally was attended by Harvard affiliates as well as local residents and students from other Boston universities.
UW Milwaukee. The University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee capitulated to anti-Israel protesters in an agreement Sunday. As part of the deal,
protesters will meet with university leadership to discuss divestment from companies connected with Israel. UWM also agreed to review study abroad programming, and specifically called out programs to Israel, and agreed to forgo conduct violations for those involved in the encampment. The University also engaged in full-on BDS as the University chancellor agreed to compel the Water Council (a global hub in Milwaukee dedicated to solving critical water challenges) to sever ties with two Israeli water companies: Mekorot and Israel Innovation Authority.
Delaware. At the University of Delaware last Wednesday, a flag display for Holocaust Remembrance Week, sponsored by the Hillel, was damaged by a student who was yelling hateful antisemitic slurs. The undergraduate student was arrested
and charged with a hate crime, criminal mischief, and disorderly conduct, and has been banned from campus. The university put out a statement saying, “Such abhorrent incidents have no place on our campus. Any acts of discrimination, racism, violence or destructive behavior that are directed at any group and threaten the wellbeing of our community will be addressed immediately.”
Read the university’s full statement here.
Southwestern. On Saturday, the student commencement speaker
at Southwestern University in Texas used her speech to condemn the alleged Israeli “genocide” in Gaza, call out the University for supporting it through investments, and then ended her tirade with a call of “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Yesterday, the University released a statement,
saying that her remarks were not the approved draft. It also noted that the “phrase used in her speech is highly controversial and perceived as antisemitic by both individuals and multiple organizations. Antisemitic statements and slogans violate Southwestern University’s core values and, as such, are not condoned by the leadership of the University.”
TAKE ACTION: Tell university administrators to protect commencement ceremonies so all families can enjoy them.
Union Theological Seminary. The Union Theological Seminary in New York announced
last week that its board of trustees endorsed a policy supporting the institution’s divestment from “companies substantially and intractably benefiting from the war in Palestine.” The institution, which has a partnership with Columbia University, is one of the first in the United States since October 7 to announce plans to divest from such companies. It’s shameful that a school dedicated to interreligious engagement would so brazenly ignore the concerns of the overwhelming majority of the Jewish community.
MORE: Read ADL’s statement condemning UTS.
Hillel Poll. The latest poll released by Hillel
found that 61 percent of college students surveyed said there was antisemitic, threatening, or derogatory language directed toward Jews during the recent wave of anti-Israel campus protests. Of respondents from schools with encampment protests, 7 percent said they had been physically assaulted, and 17 percent said they had been verbally assaulted. 30 percent said the demonstrations have made them scared to attend classes or be on campus. And more than half (51 percent) said the protests had disrupted their ability to attend class.
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